Soddy-Daisy Topples East Hamilton, 15-9, Behind Clift's Big Day

Catcher Has Three Hits, Drives In Seven Runs In Region 3-AAA Title Win

  • Wednesday, May 13, 2015
  • Larry Fleming
Soddy-Daisy's Dillon Clift jogs toward home after slugging a three-run homer in  a six-run second inning Wednesday against East Hamilton in the Region 3-AAA baseball championship game. Clift added a two-run single and two-run double for seven RBIs in the Trojans' 15-9 victory.
Soddy-Daisy's Dillon Clift jogs toward home after slugging a three-run homer in a six-run second inning Wednesday against East Hamilton in the Region 3-AAA baseball championship game. Clift added a two-run single and two-run double for seven RBIs in the Trojans' 15-9 victory.
photo by Dennis Norwood

A week ago East Hamilton hammered Soddy-Daisy for the District 5-AAA baseball championship.

It was a different story Wednesday.

Soddy-Daisy senior Dillon Clift, battling an allergy flare-up most of the day, slugged a home run and had a career-high seven RBIs as the Trojans scored early and often to win a 15-9 slugfest and capture the Region 3-AAA title before the largest crowd in the first year of competition at Hurricane Field.

Clift smacked a three-run homer in a six-run second inning and added a two-run single and two-run double to spark the Trojans’ season-high 17-hit attack against five East Hamilton pitchers.

“Dillon called me around 1:45 and sounded like death,” Trojans coach Jared Hensley said.

“He told me was sick and didn’t know if he could play. I was in shock. He thought it was an allergy thing.”

“Doctor” Hensley had the solution.

“I stopped at Walgreens and got him like 40 ounces of pedialite and made him drink it,” the coach said. “Dillon has fought injuries a lot in his four years, but for him to step up in a game like this and do what he did for our program, me as a coach, and for himself, was absolutely great. He deserved a moment like this.”

The Trojans (22-10), who lost to Cookeville in the 2014 region final and suffered a setback against Riverdale the next day in the sectional, will host Smyrna (20-14) on Friday in the sectional at 7 p.m. A win would send the Trojans to the state tournament for the first time since 2011.

East Hamilton (20-12) will travel to Columbia (24-11) for its second appearance in the sectional and a shot at the school’s first state baseball tournament berth. The Hurricanes lost to DeKalb County in the Class AA sectional in 2011.

Columbia beat Smyrna, 4-3, for the Region 4-AAA title and also upset Riverdale in the semifinals, a team that went 20-1 in regular-season league play.

Both of the Region 4-AAA teams finished second in their respective district tournaments, but rallied to reach the regional championship.

In the District 5-AAA tourney championship, East Hamilton clocked the Trojans, 12-3, and the team was battling internal strife and not playing winning baseball.

“The difference between a week ago and today was two types of emotion,” Hensley said. “We not only got beat last week, I didn’t like where we were as a group. I challenged the guys to step up and come together.

“Teenagers sometimes get a bad rap on being able to handle criticism and adversity. I’m really proud of this group for handling the jabs I threw at them. They figured it out and got what they wanted.”

Soddy-Daisy got a brilliant one-hit, 13-strikeout performance by Andy Wright in a 3-0 win over Cookeville on Monday and sailed into Wednesday’s game brimming in confidence.

But East Hamilton was equally self-assured after thrashing Warren County, 10-1.

Soddy-Daisy, however, came out strong with one first-inning run and then hobbled the Hurricanes with a six-run second, highlighted by Clift’s three-run blast to left field.

The Trojans started the uprising with five successive singles, with Cale Morgan delivering one RBI and Tre Carter driving in two more runs.

Chandler Sulcer grounded out, but Clift chased starting pitcher Hunter Smith with his three-run blast well beyond the fence in left field. Josh Aslinger came on in relief and retired Gavin Rogers and Wright on fly-ball outs to right and center, respectively.

“Soddy-Daisy swung the bats well today,” Hurricanes coach Steve Garland said. “We hit it pretty good, but we couldn’t slow down their offense. We’ve played good defense for the most part, but not so much today. We made four errors and you can’t do that against a good offensive team and give them extra outs.

“This has been a good five-game series. It’s been wild.”

Soddy-Daisy, which captured its only state baseball title in 1977, according to the TSSAA web site, won the first regular-season game and East Hamilton took the next three, including two wins in the district tournament.

After building the 7-0 lead, the Trojans watched as East Hamilton scored three runs in the third fourth and fifth innings

Left-fielder Garett Stone did most of the damage, blasting a solo home run in the third and later adding a three-run shot.

“I’m pleased with the fight our kids had today,” Garland said. “But every time we answered they answered us back and that was important for them. It just wasn’t our day.”

The Trojans scored one run in the fourth, four in the fifth and added three in the sixth to keep the Hurricanes at bay.

In addition to Clift’s 3-for-5 effort, Tre Carter also went 3-for-5 with three RBIs and scored four times. Levi Thornton went 2-for-3 with one RBI and three runs scored. Cale Morgan had two hits, drove in a run and scored twice. Justin Cooke was 3-for-5 and scored two runs.

LINESCORE

Soddy-Daisy                   160 143 0 – 15 17 2

East Hamilton                 003 330 0 – 9 9 4

Kearney, Rogers (5) and Clift; Smith, Aslinger (2), Watters (5), Stewart (6), Gorman (6) and Fahler.

(E-mail Larry Fleming at larryfleming44@gmail.com and follow him on Twitter @larryfleming44)

 

Soddy-Daisy pitcher Colin Kearney (11, partially hidden), third baseman Andy Wright and catcher Dillon Clift converge on a pop-up by East Hamilton's Matt Milita in Wednesday's game. Wright made the grab and the Trojans went on to win 15-9 to clinch the Region 3-AAA title and earn home-field advantage in Friday's sectional against Smyrna.
Soddy-Daisy pitcher Colin Kearney (11, partially hidden), third baseman Andy Wright and catcher Dillon Clift converge on a pop-up by East Hamilton's Matt Milita in Wednesday's game. Wright made the grab and the Trojans went on to win 15-9 to clinch the Region 3-AAA title and earn home-field advantage in Friday's sectional against Smyrna.
photo by Dennis Norwood
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