CLEVELAND, Tenn. – Monica Thompson fired a two-hit shutout and Kaya Boseman supplied most of the power at the plate and Ooltewah thrashed Cleveland, 12-0, in five innings on Thursday in District 5-3A softball action at Brenda McKenzie Lawson Field.
Thompson gave up a leadoff single to Lauren Lee in the first inning and an infield hit – a blooper by Teliyah Cobb that she almost caught between the mound and home plate – in the second. Thompson struck out four, walked five and hit one, although the pitch clearly hit home plate and not the batter in the second inning.
“I felt pretty good out there today,” said Thompson, who one-hit the Lady Blue Raiders in a 10-1 victory on March 29. “The defense had my back and I got plenty of offensive help as well. I trust my teammates.”
Cleveland loaded the bases against Thompson in the second, but she retired Lee on a groundout to end the threat. The Ooltewah right-hander gave up leadoff walks in the fourth and fifth innings, but then retired three in a row each time.
The Lady Owls, coming off a lackluster 9-5 win against McMinn County on 9-5 that didn’t play well with coach Jon Massey, and he let his player know about it at a practice session at school Thursday before departing for Cleveland.
“They were a lot better mentally today,” said Massey, who notched his 98th coaching victory in his third season – his record is 98-25 and the Lady Owls finished third in the 2015 Class 3A state tournament. “I told them we were going to practice at 2:30 today and they better not be late. We just went through the motions up at McMinn.”
While the team’s hitting was timely, the defense turned in a flawless performance. Cleveland had nine base runners, but only two got as far as third base – both runners reached on walks.
Emily Colbaugh was on third with one out, but Teliyah Cobb was thrown out trying to steal second and Lauren Lee grounded out to end the second inning.
Lee walked in the fifth, stole second and moved to third with none out. M.E. Hentz popped to shortstop Tiera Lemon and Autumn Hubbard and Allison Botts each grounded out to Lemon.
“I really like our defense a whole lot,” Massey said. “We can really make plays out there and our bats were going good, too. It was a good day.”
Despite a stiff wind blowing from center field to home plate, Boseman crushed a two-run homer in the first inning and laced a two-run double to right field in a four-run second inning as the Lady Owls (30-4, 10-0) built an early 7-0 lead.
Boseman singled to center in the third and scored on Bailey Kennedy’s sacrifice fly.
The Lady Owls’ sophomore is becoming a tougher and tougher out each time she takes the field.
Boseman is batting .617 (66 for 107) with 15 home runs, 14 doubles, five triples and 68 RBIs. She’s 11-2 as a pitcher with a 1.87 ERA.
“Kayla is a much better hitter this year,” Massey said. “She was pretty much a pull hitter as a freshman, but now she can hit the ball from the left-field line to the right-field line and she’s doing great things for us.”
Boseman’s home run was a laser shot to left-center field and the double was down the right-field foul line. Her single in the fourth went right back up the middle.
“Last year I was a freshman and a little nervous hitting,” Boseman said. “This year I’m calm and go to bat and see the pitch and hit the pitch. I think I’m a smarter hitter, too. I see the best pitches and hit them where they’re thrown.”
Ooltewah, which has won nine straight games and 21 of its last 22, also scored four times in the fourth inning. Tyler Sullivan, Marissa Forrester and Addy Keylon each had run-scoring singles in addition to Kennedy’s sacrifice fly to center.
Keylon, a freshman center fielder, went 2 for 4 with a seventh-inning RBI double that gave the Lady Owls a four-run cushion at McMinn County. Batting ninth in the order, Keylon contributed two singles and a double against Cleveland and she scored from third on Boseman’s double in the second inning.
“Addy has been doing a really nice job the last several games out of that number nine slot,” Massey said.
The Lady Owls return to district play with a key game Tuesday at Soddy-Daisy. The Lady Trojans’ lone league loss was an 8-1 decision against Ooltewah on April 13 and they’ve won five in a row since then.
Boxscore
Ooltewah 250 41 – 12 14 0
Cleveland 000 00 – 0 2 5
Thompson and Forrester; Botts, Hentz (5) and Wilson.
(Contact Larry Fleming at larryfleming44@gmail.com and on Twitter @larryfleming44)