Soddy-Daisy relief pitcher Jordan Woodward, escaped a bases-loaded jam in the third inning, threw 4.2 hitless inning and was instrumental in the Lady Trojans' 6-0 win over state-ranked and top-seeded Ooltewah in the District 5-3A softball tournament on Monday.
photo by Dennis Norwood
Soddy-Daisy threw a wrinkle into the District 5-3A softball tournament Monday night.
The Lady Trojans got a combined one-hitter from Shonna Penney and Jordan Woodward, aggressively went after Ooltewah ace Kayla Boseman for nine hits and roared into Tuesday’s championship game with a stunning 6-0 victory over the state-ranked Lady Owls at Jim Lovell Field.
“We gained a ton of confidence from this game,” said Woodward, who pitched 4.2 innings of hitless relief with six strikeouts and two walks. “We get to play in the region tournament and I get to spend more time with my teammates.”
Penney started the game and went 2.1 innings, but created the pressure-cooker situation that Woodward inherited.
Penney yielded the Lady Owls’ only hit, Shelby Sutton’s towering shot to center field that bounced off the top of the fence and directly back to center fielder Meagan Beasley for a single that loaded the bases with one out in the third inning.
A few more inches and Sutton’s drive would have cleared the fence and given Ooltewah a 3-2 lead.
With the victory Soddy-Daisy (27-8) advanced to Tuesday’s championship game at 7 p.m. at Jim Lovell Field.
Ooltewah (36-5), which saw its 15-game winning streak end, fell into the loser’s bracket and will play McMinn County at 5 p.m. to stay alive. The Lady Cherokees eliminated Walker Valley, 10-7, despite almost blowing a 7-0 lead built on a seven-run third inning.
Monday’s loss was only the third in 23 games at home in Lady Owls coach Jon Massey’s four-year tenure – Soddy-Daisy has two of them and Rhea County owns the third.
It was the first time Ooltewah has been shutout since Whitwell posted a 1-0 win on March 29, 2014, in the East Hamilton Choo Choo tournament, according to the coachT.com web site.
Silverdale Baptist Academy and Rhea County each held the Lady Owls to one run earlier this season.
“Soddy-Daisy was very aggressive with the bats and had a very good idea what they wanted to do at the plate and we didn’t,” Massey said. “And we didn’t. That’s the bottom line.”
Penney started in the circle and retired the first five before hitting Tyler Sullivan with two out in the third. Marissa Forrester and Addy Keylon each drew walks to start the fourth inning, but Tiera Lemon lined out to center.
After the walks in the third, Sutton then sent her almost-bomb toward the outfield darkness. The runners, not sure whether ball would be caught or leave the yard, Beasley's play held Sutton to a single and prevented a run from scoring.
Ooltewah would get only four other balls out of the infield – Beasley caught three of them and left fielder Emilee Dent snagged the other.
After Sutton’s long drove, Lady Trojans coach Wes Skiles put Woodward in the circle to face Boseman, the Lady Owls’ best hitter who came into Monday batting .595 with 18 home runs and 79 RBIs.
Woodward was cool in a pressure-cooker situation, striking out Boseman, who was hitless in three plate appearances, and Aubbie Collake to end the most serious scoring threat of the night by the Lady Owls.
“I wasn’t too worried when I came into the game because we had a two-run lead and I had a good defense behind me,” Woodward said. “It was all good. Sometimes I’m nervous but not tonight. I went in there and tried not to think about what was at stake.”
Ooltewah had two runners on in the sixth, but Woodward fanned Tyler Sullivan and retired Jadyn Raschke on an infield grounder to escape that jam.
“This is big because we know we’re going to be playing next Monday (in the Region 3-3A tournament),” said Skiles, who has told several district coaches this is likely his last season with the Lady Trojans. “We’re not content by any means just making the region, but we’re definitely glad we did.”
Lady Trojans shortstop Alexis Trimiar went 3 for 3, scored twice and drove in a run. Woodward contributed on offense as well, collecting two hits in four at-bats and driving in three runs.
Boseman walked three in the first two innings, but the Lady Trojans couldn’t break through on the scoreboard.
It was a different story in the third.
Alexis Trimiar singled to left and stole second base – she also had two other stolen bases in the game. Cameren Swafford popped out to short and Grayson Brown’s single to right scored Trimiar with the game’s first run.
Macy Bryant struck out, but Woodward delivered a clutch single to right to push the second run across. Haley Harvey singled with one out in the fourth, went to second on Dent’s sacrifice bunt and raced home with the Lady Trojans’ third run on Trimiar’s single to right.
Boseman retired seven in row until giving up a Dent single and Trimiar’s third single moved the runner to second. Both runners moved up a base on Cameren Swafford’s sacrifice bunt. Brown drove in a run with a single and Woodward’s second hit accounted for Soddy-Daisy’s final two runs in the seventh inning.
Woodward retired the Lady Owls in order in the last of the seventh and ended the game as a light rain fell.
“Our defense played well,” Skiles said. “Our hitters got up there and swung the bats fearlessly and our pitchers did a great job working together.”
The Lady Owls now face a tough challenge if they want to repeat as tournament champions.
In 2015, Ooltewah lost to Walker Valley and then battled for its life to stay alive. The Lady Trojans beat McMinn County, East Hamilton and Soddy-Daisy to get another shot at Walker Valley waiting in the title game.
The Lady Owls clipped the Lady Mustangs twice to win the championship and knocked them off a third time in the postseason to capture the region championship.
If Ooltewah gets past McMinn County, it will have to beat the Lady Trojans in the second game and a day later in the “if necessary” game on Wednesday to claim the title and host a first-round region game.
“We’ll find out a lot about us (Tuesday),” Massey said. “If we come out here and lay an egg in the first game our season is over. I don’t expect that to happen. If we come out of the loser’s bracket, we’ll have to beat Soddy-Daisy twice. That’s what it boils down to. I don’t want to finish second.”
Boxscore
Soddy-Daisy 002 100 3 – 6 9 0
Ooltewah 000 000 0 – 0 1 0
Penney, Woodward (3) and Swafford; Boseman and Forrester.
(Contact Larry Fleming at larryfleming44@gmail.com and on Twitter @larryfleming44)
Shortstop Alexis Trimiar (3) was busy sliding into second base Monday night as she stole three times in Soddy-Daisy's stunning, 6-0, win over Ooltewah in the District 5-3A softball tournament. Trimiar singled three times and scored twice. Ooltewah shortstop Tiera Lemon awaits the late throw.
photo by Dennis Norwood