Ooltewah Wins Twice In AAA Softball

MURFREESBORO – The first game of the 2015 state softball tournament is in the books for the Ooltewah Lady Owls.

It was a good start for Ooltewah as they improved to 39-8 with a 5-0 shutout over the Bearden Lady Bulldogs.

It got even better in the second game as they handed Dickson County a 3-2 loss in nine innings and that was after trailing most of the game 2-0.

The Lady Owls put single runs on the board in the second and third innings before creating a little breathing room with three more in the fifth.

That was more than enough support for freshman pitcher Kayla Boseman, who went the distance and allowed just six hits while striking out four and walking two.

“We’re glad to get this one under our belts and I’m always pleased when we win,” said Ooltewah coach Jon Massey after his team had cleared the dugout and moved to another field to relax following the first win.

“We did a good job and we’ll take whatever they give, but we made the routine plays and had some timely hitting.  That’s what we’ve been doing for the last two weeks,” he added.

Mabry Carpenter led off the Ooltewah second with a walk and later scored on a grounder to the pitcher by Summer Williams.

Then in the third, Shelby Sutton led off with a single to right before going to third on a double by Allie Jones.  Sutton then scooted home as Bearden recorded a double play, but it was 2-0 after three innings.

Tiera Lemon, who gets on base and scores more often than not,  reached on a leadoff bunt in the fifth.  She stole second before going to third on an infield error and scored on a wild pitch.

Jones reached on that error and scored when Boseman cranked a 1-2 pitch down the line in left for a two-run homer.  That extended the lead to five runs and was more than enough for the freshman pitcher.

“Bearden has a good team, but I feel like I pitched well and we were able to shut them down,” she said afterward.

And what about that line-drive home run in the fifth?

“She had been throwing me rise balls all game and I had to make an adjustment, but she put that pitch in the zone and I put it where it had to be,” Boseman smiled.

The Lady Owls left six runners stranded while the Lady Bulldogs left nine on the bases, including two in the first, third and four innings.

Back-to-back singles in the first by Cassidy Heemsoth and Sadie Coons with two outs produced nothing when Boseman struck out Maxey House swinging.

Then in the third, an infield hit by Alaeni Ray and a one-out bunt by Heemsoth put two on, but Boseman never flinched and got the final two outs on a pop to short and a strikeout.

And finally in the fourth, Kierra Smith singled to lead off and went to second when Harly Hennen walked with two outs, but Ray popped to Carpenter in foul territory on the third-base side to end that threat.

Jadyn Raschke had two hits and a walk to lead the Ooltewah attack while Ray and Heemsoth both had two hits for the Lady Bulldogs.

The win over Bearden was big.  The win over the defending Class AAA state champion Lady Cougars was even bigger.

Dickson County had played 10 innings in its first game of the day before defeating Houston, 5-4.  The Lady Cougars weren't quite as lucky in their second extra-inning game of the day.

Jones, Sutton and Boseman all had two hits in the second game, but it was a single by first baseman Aubie Collake with one out in the ninth that provided the winning margin.

A two-run single by Raschke in the sixth tied the game at 2-2 before Collake's heroics in the ninth.

Sutton led off the ninth with a single before Jones singled to left-center.  Boseman had an infield single to load the bases before Collake came through an out later.

"We just keep plugging along, trying to play the best we possibly can and just keep doing what we do well," Massey said after the second win.

"We don't have the ability to hit a bunch of home runs, but we do the small things well at times.  Tonight we did just enough to score one more run than they did.

"Even if we don't win another game, we've had an outstanding season, but we're hoping to win two more," Massey concluded.

Boseman went the distance and picked up the win for the Lady Owls after allowing the two runs on six hits.  She had seven strikeouts and one walk.

Brooklin Lee was the loser after allowing 10 hits and three runs.  She also had seven strikeouts and a walk.

BEARDEN   000 000 0 – 0 6 1

OOLTEWAH  011 030 x – 5 7 0

 Steinbacher, Susong (6) and House; Boseman and Forrester.

DICKSON CO.   000 002 000 -- 2 6 6

OOLTEWAH  000 002 001 -- 3 10 0

Lee and Estes; Boseman and Forrester.

(email John Hunt at nomarathonmoose@comcast.net)