Soddy-Daisy pitcher/infielder Andy Wright, middle, signed a baseball scholarship with Middle Tennessee on Wednesday. Wright is flanked by his father, Dellen, and mother, Janet.
Soddy-Daisy senior Andy Wright, who helped the Trojans reach the Class AAA sectional baseball game, signed a Middle Tennessee State University scholarship on Wednesday at the high school.
Wright, who once again will be a stalwart for the Jared Hensley-coached Trojans in his senior year, chose the Blue Raiders over offers from Belmont University, Navy, Air Force, Carson-Newman College and Tennessee-Martin.
His final choice came down to MTSU and Belmont.
“My official visit to MTSU was great,” Wright said.
“I met all the players, felt good around the coaches and the area and the best fit for me.”
And Wright will see several familiar faces when he begins his freshman year at MTSU next fall, players he knows: Kevin Dupree, Caleb Smith and Jared Allen, former players at Ooltewah, Lincoln County and Polk County, respectively.
Silverdale Academy’s Reid Clements is also on the Blue Raiders’ roster.
A versatile player at Soddy-Daisy, Wright was signed as a pitcher for coach Jim McGuire.
“That’s all right with me,” Wright said. “I’ve always considered myself a pitcher first.”
Wright started at different positions his freshman year at Soddy-Daisy and played right field, center field, shortstop and some at third base, in addition to pitching.
Over the last two years Wright concentrated on playing third base and pitching.
“He’s been a huge part of our program since the day he walked into the door from Loftin Middle School,” Hensley said.
MTSU coaches watched Wright pitch several times during the summer and fall and recruited him as a pitcher. Wright actually committed to the Blue Raiders in July.
“I think Andy will be a tremendous asset for that program,” Hensley said. “It’s a great baseball program and I think he can go in there and possibly help them out early in his career.”
Wright is confident he’ll be ready to tackle college baseball after completing his career at Soddy-Daisy.
“I’m very prepared for that,” he said. “I’ve got good family support and they’ve got me going in the right direction. I want to have a good senior year and our goal, just like anybody else, is to win a state championship.”
Last spring, the Trojans went into the District 5-AAA tournament as the No. 3 seed and were 17-15 when the tourney began.
Soddy-Daisy lost its tourney opener, 6-4, to Bradley Central.
A day later, the Trojans slipped past Cleveland, 8-7, on Dev DeMatteo’s clutch leadoff home run in the 11th inning. Wright worked the first six innings of that game, leaving with the scored tied at 5-5.
Soddy-Daisy followed the marathon win over Cleveland with a hard-fought 3-2 win over Walker Valley and advanced to the loser’s bracket final the next day. The Trojans edged No. 1 seed East Hamilton, 3-2, and earned another shot at Bradley Central in the championship game.
The Bears pulled out a 1-0 win on Austin Calfee’s run-scoring single in the bottom of the seventh inning.
After routing Warren County, 12-2, in the Region 3-AAA semifinals, the Trojans lost to Cookeville, 8-4, in the region title game and still needed one win to reach the state tournament. Riverdale ended their season with a 2-0 victory in the sectional.
Soddy-Daisy ended its season with a 21-18 record.
For the Trojans and Wright, it was a season that started with a nightmarish 14-1 loss to Ringgold in the season opener.
Wright was raked for 12 runs in less than two innings by the visiting Tigers.
However, the right-handed Wright gave up only 10 runs over his next 37 innings and had a 1.89 ERA over that stretch.
For his junior season, Wright finished with a 5-2 record and 4.77 ERA. He recorded 48 strikeouts over 39 innings.
Offensively, Wright batted .393 and had a .591 slugging percentage. He drove in 26 RBIs and had a team-leading 14 doubles.
(E-mail Larry Fleming at larryfleming44@gmail.com and follow him on Twitter @larryfleming44)