Lady Owls Whip Lady Trojans For Second Straight 5-3A Softball Title

With opposing teams more and more intentionally walking Ooltewah’s best hitter, pitcher/outfielder Kayla Boseman, it was critical that other Lady Owls step up in the District 5-3A softball tournament over the past three days.

To some degree that occurred.

On Wednesday, however, the full force of talent throughout the Ooltewah lineup showed up and helped the Lady Owls beat the Lady Trojans, 9-4, at Jim Lovell Field and capture their second straight tournament championship at Jim Lovell Field.

“We could have laid an egg out here Tuesday, but the girls played and battled hard,” Lady Owls coach Jon Massey said. “This is a very good team with a lot of talented softball players. As a team we always have a chance as long as our 15 players work as a team.”

The Lady Owls, who have won four of five meetings with the Lady Trojans this season – Soddy-Daisy beat Ooltewah on Monday to force its bitter rivals into the loser’s bracket – now turn their attention to the Region 3-3A tournament.

Ooltewah will now turn its attention to hosting Rhea County, runner-up in District 6-3A, on Monday at 7 p.m. in the Region 3-3A tournament opener. Those two teams have played three times. Ooltewah won twice by scores of 12-6 and 18-8 while Rhea County posted a 7-1 victory.

Soddy-Daisy will travel to Cookeville.

Ooltewah had nine hits against Soddy-Daisy pitching on Wednesday, including four doubles and a home run.

“They were hitting everything we threw up there,” Soddy-Daisy coach Wes Skiles said. “Some of them were shots, but we knew they were explosive. Anytime a team gets one or two runs in an inning, it’s not a big deal. When they get three, four or five runs, it gets you mentally.”

After falling to Soddy-Daisy, 6-0, in a lackluster effort on Monday, the Lady Owls (39-5) whipped McMinn County, 15-7, on Monday. Then they clipped the Lady Trojans, 5-3, on Tuesday to set the stage for Wednesday’s championship showdown.

“I’ve heard a lot of people say this is Kayla’s team,” junior first baseman Aubbie Collake said. “But it’s not just Kayla. We all work hard and play together as a team.”

And those role players contributed mightily on Wednesday in front of a nice crowd on a sunny, hot, breezy day.

Junior second baseman Shelby Sutton was 3 for 3, scored three runs and hit her first home run – on the first pitch from Penney – of the season, a solo shot to center in the fifth inning.

“(The homer) felt great,” Sutton said. “I came out today focused and ready to hit the ball. We’re all exhausted, but we fought through and now we have to get ready for the next game.”

Collake, who plays first base and scooped two throws from third baseman Mabry Carpenter out of the dirt for outs – she had all three assists – in the seventh, also was 3 for 4, including a two-run double in a four-run sixth that iced the game.

Carpenter, a sophomore, had two hits in four at-bats, and got the scoring parade started with a two-run single off Soddy-Daisy starter Shonna Penney in the first inning.

Sullivan, a sophomore who was the Lady Owls’ designated player, ripped a double to right-center in the third inning that drove in Boseman and Collake and gave Ooltewah a 4-3 lead.

“I was hoping my double would set the tempo for the rest of the game,” she said. “I think we all were more comfortable facing their two pitchers today. We were tired of having to come from behind, so we got a couple of runs early.”

Now, it wasn’t like Boseman was a fan at the game.

The sophomore standout had only one hit, but it was the team’s other two-run double in the sixth. The courtesy runner for Boseman, Ally Chernak, scored three times.

Boseman was walked twice, once intentionally, and hit by a pitch. With the bases loaded in the sixth that more or less forced reliever Jordan Woodward to challenge the slugger, Boseman ripped the two-run double into the left-field corner.

“It’s frustrating when they walk me,” said Boseman, who has 19 home runs, 85 RBIs and 68 runs scored while batting .583. “But my on-base percentage is pretty high. I’ve just got to deal with it.”

Boseman’s OBP before Wednesday’s game was .580.

With one out in the sixth inning, freshman center fielder Addy Keylon reached on third baseman Grayson Brown’s fielding error. Junior shortstop Tiera Lemon was hit by a pitch and Sutton singled to load the bases against Woodward.

Soddy-Daisy coach Wes Skiles, in what has become routine, brought Penney back to the circle to face Boseman. Boseman sent a missile into left field, scoring Keylon and Lemon. Collake then cleared the bases with her double. Carpenter singled up the middle and Sullivan flied out to end the inning.

“The first person you think of when we talk about players stepping up is Aubbie (Collake),” Massey said. “And she understands that. We don’t need five-or six-run home runs. We just need hard-hit balls and produce runs. It was a great job by Aubbie today.”

In the circle, Boseman was tough on the Lady Trojans after they scored three runs in the second on shortstop Alex Trimiar’s RBI single and Cameren Swafford’s two-run homer – a rocket that would have taken the scoreboard out had it been several feet to the right.

Boseman limited Soddy-Daisy (27-10) to five hits – Trimiar had the single and a seventh-inning home run – and struck out nine and walked three to improve to 17-3 with an ERA near 2.00.

Skiles isn’t complaining about finishing runner-up or the fact his Lady Trojans must hit the road on Monday.

“Heck, we’re still playing and a lot of teams would like to be where we are,” he said. “We didn’t make it out of the district last year.”

Championship Boxscore

Soddy-Daisy                      030 000 1 – 4 5 1

Ooltewah                            202 014 x – 9 10 0

Penney, Woodward (4), Penney (6) and Swafford; Boseman and Forrester.

(Contact Larry Fleming at larryfleming44@gmail.com and on Twitter @larryfleming44)