Ooltewah's Kayla Boseman, shown smacking a home run against Cleveland earlier this season, hit a two-run homer -- her 20th this year -- and added a RBI single in a 4-0 win over Soddy-Daisy in the Region 3-3A softball title game on Wednesday. Boseman also threw a one-hitter, lowering her ERA to 1.28.
photo by Dennis Norwood/File Photo
Ooltewah sophomore Kayla Boseman is showing off her big-time talent in big games of late.
A hard-throwing right-handed pitcher and smooth-stroking hitter with power batting third in the lineup, Boseman was up to her old tricks Wednesday against District 5-3A rival Soddy-Daisy at Jim Lovell Field.
Boseman fired a one-hitter – she came within one pitch of recording her second no-hitter in as many games, belted a two-run homer and drove in another run with a single and sparked Ooltewah past Soddy-Daisy, 4-0, to give the Lady Owls the Region 3-3A softball championship.
Ooltewah has won back-to-back district and region titles and now are positioned for a shot at consecutive sectional wins.
“We did this last year,” Boseman said, “and I think this team can take it all the way. It’s a trend and feels really great.”
The 2015 National Freshman of the Year, Boseman lost her no-hitter when Soddy-Daisy’s Meagan Beasley, who popped out and struck out in two previous at-bats, lined a clean single into left field with one out in the seventh inning.
Boseman belted a two-run home run, her 20th on the season, in the fifth inning that produced the four-run cushion. Her RBI single came in the third. Also in that inning, Tiera Lemon singled and scpred when Mabry Carpenter, who struck out and reached safely on a wild pitch, was caught in a rundown between first and second and was hit by a throw from second baseman Breanna Britton, got up and scrambled back to first with a head-first slide.
“These Soddy-Daisy and Ooltewah games are just battles,” Ooltewah coach Jon Massey said. “I hope we both go to state because it would be awesome if our district (5-3A) could send two teams. It’s a darn tough district.”
Ooltewah (41-5), which has won 20 of its last 21 games, is now one victory shy of making a second straight state tournament appearance after a third-place finish last season.
The Lady Owls will host the Stewarts Creek (31-18), which lost to powerful Siegel, 7-0, in the Region 4-3A title game, on Friday at 6 p.m. If rain forces a postponement, the game would be played on Saturday at 2 p.m.
Soddy-Daisy (28-11) will be on the road to play Siegel (45-6) in Murfreesboro. Siegel is riding a 22-game winning streak.
Dating back to the Lady Owls’ win over the Lady Trojans in the District 5-3A tournament championship game, Boseman had thrown 11 1/3 straight no-hit innings going into the seventh in the regional showdown – it was the sixth meeting between the rivals this season, fourth in the postseason.
“I’ve been mentally tough in our tournament games,” said Boseman (19-3), who went 3 for 3 and raised her batting average to .593. “When I’m pitching I have to stay focused and really spin it. Soddy-Daisy is a good-hitting team, I give them that. Hitting, if they pitch me inside I turn on it. If they pitch me outside, I drive the ball. When they walk me, I have to say, ‘Hey, it’s a free base.’ ”
If he could do it again, Soddy-Daisy coach Wes Skiles might walk Boseman a time or two, just as he and other opposing teams did in the district tournament.
“I should have intentionally walked her and just seen what might happen after that,” Skiles said. “That was the biggest mistake and it was 100 percent my responsibility.”
With Shelby Sutton – she went 2 for 3 and scored ahead of Boseman’s homer in the fifth and lacing a single up the middle – on first with a walk, Boseman singled to center in the first.
Lemon singled to start the third and Sutton followed with a single. Starter Jordan Woodward pitched to Boseman, who drove a line-shot to center to produce the game’s first run. Madalyn Mills, a freshman, ran for Boseman and went to second when Mabry Carpenter struck out, but reached first when the ball in the dirt got away from catcher Cameron Swafford.
Mills scored when Carpenter was caught in a rundown between first and second. Breanna Britton’s throw hit Carpenter in the helmet; she got up and barely made it back to first safely as Carpenter raced home with the second run.
In the fifth, Sutton reached on a one-out hit and Shonna Penney challenged Boseman. On a 3-2 pitch, Boseman hit a rocket into a wind blowing straight in from center over the wall to push Ooltewah’s lead to 4-0.
The three RBIs pushed Boseman’s season total to 88.
The top three hitters in the Lady Owls’ lineup – Lemon, Sutton and Boseman – were a combined 7 for 10 with four runs scored and three RBIs. Sullivan’s single leading off the second inning was the team's only other hit.
Skiles tried everything he could with his top two pitchers to keep the Lady Owls under control.
Woodward started. Penney came on with two out in the first.
Woodward came back to pitch the third, but with one out Penney returned to the circle.
After Penney gave up Boseman’s home run in the fifth Woodward came on to face Aubbie Collake, who singled.
“The time she hit the homer,” Skiles said, “I thought we could get her. I went with my gut and my gut was wrong. Oh, well.”
Penney immediately returned and walked Mabry Carpenter, but got out of the inning without any further damage and also pitched the sixth.
“I was just mixing up my pitching,” Skiles said.
Said Massey, “I think we finally figured it out. Wes has a book on us. I think today was all by design. The first girl (Woodward) is good. Shonna is really hard to hit and a great competitor. We took too many strikes early and got better later on.
“No matter who is pitching, you still have to keep your head down and drive the ball somewhere.”
Boseman carried over here no-hit, 10-strikeout effort into Wednesday’s game.
She hit Grayson Brown in the first inning and walked Beasley in the second. That’s when she started the string of 14 consecutive outs before walking Cameron Swafford with two out in the sixth. Boseman got Brown on a pop to shortstop for the final out.
Woodward rapped a hard-hit grounder up the middle, but Lemon moved to her left, scooped up the ball and fired to first for the out. Beasley then delivered her sharp single to left, breaking up the no-hit bid.
“Tiera has good range and the ball stayed down,” Massey said. “That was a huge play because it was the first out.”
Macy Bryant reached on a fielder’s choice and Britton popped out to first.
“Kayla was ready and we had a good plan,” Massey said. “Stacy (Wong) and Heidi (Moses) do a magnificent job with our pitching and catching. They call the pitches and set the infield and I set the outfield.
“Kayla was feeling it, she had good velocity and her pitches were moving pretty good.”
With the shutout Boseman lowered her ERA to 1.28 and now has 192 strikeouts in 130 innings.
Championship Boxscore
Soddy-Daisy 000 000 0 – 0 1 2
Ooltewah 002 020 x – 4 8 0
Woodward, Penney (1), Woodward (3), Penney (3), Woodward (5), Penney (5) and Swafford; Boseman and Forrester.
(Contact Larry Fleming at larryfleming44@gmail.com and on Twitter @larryfleming44)