After days of weather delays, Ooltewah got its 2017 softball season off and running with two victories in the Meigs County tournament at the Regional Park in Athens, Tennessee.
The Lady Owls slipped past Kingston 4-3 in five innings despite falling behind when the Lady Yellow Jackets opened with a three-run first against sophomore starter Mackenzie Patterson.
Ooltewah followed up their season opener with an 18-0 blowout win against Anderson County behind a 13-hit attack, a 10-run inning and the two-hit pitching of Kayla Boseman, who got a save in the first game.
“I thought we played well,” Lady Owls coach Jon Massey said.
“The Kingston pitcher ran the ball up there pretty good and they came out swinging in the first inning, but we battled back and were fortunate to win.”
Senior first baseman Aubbie Collake hit a solo home run in a three-run third inning that gave Ooltewah the win. Senior Jadyn Raschke went 2-for-2 with a RBI and scored a run. Boseman was 2-for-3 and sophomore Addy Keylon had one hit and a RBI.
The Lady Owls bombed Anderson County from the get-go. After scoring one run in the first inning, Ooltewah hit the Lady Mavericks with a seven-run second before scoring 10 runs in the third and final frame.
Boseman checked Anderson County on two hits and collected two of the team’s 13 hits, including a double. She also scored three runs.
Sophomore Madalyn Mills cracked a three-run homer in the big third-inning outburst. Raschke added two more hits and scored one. Freshman Makayla Strickland went 2-for-2, drove in two runs and scored twice. Senior Tiera Lemon had two hits in four at-bats.
The Lady Owls resume play Saturday morning with a game against Sequatchie County at 10:30. The tournament then shifts to Black and Orange division play.
Boxscores
Kingston 300 00 – 3 5 1
Ooltewah 013 0x – 4 8 0
Green, Tompkins (4) and Gainer; Patterson, Boseman (5) and Forrester.
Ooltewah 17(10) – 18 13 1
Anderson County 000 – 0 2 3
Boseman and Sales; Garrity and Lowe.
(Contact Larry Fleming at larryfleming44@gmail.com and on Twitter @larryfleming44)