GPS' Elizabeth Warwick races for home Tuesday afternoon in a game against visiting Soddy Daisy. Warwick had three hits, two runs and two RBIs to help lead the Bruisers to a 9-2 win over the Lady Trojans.
photo by Dennis Norwood
The GPS Bruisers and the Soddy Daisy Trojans both face two of their most fierce district softball rivals on Thursday. Based on Tuesday’s results between these two outstanding teams, the Bruisers appear to be a bit more prepared.
Soddy Daisy took a 1-0 lead in the first inning, only to watch as the host Bruisers batted around and scored five runs in the bottom of the frame.
That early deficit was simply too much for the Lady Trojans to overcome as GPS prevailed by a 9-2 final at T. A. Lupton Field.
The win for GPS was especially sweet as it made up for the Bruisers only loss back in early March when the Lady Trojans prevailed by a 3-2 final on a cold and windy afternoon at Soddy Daisy’s Clifford Kirk Stadium.
The situation was totally reversed at GPS as the Bruisers collected 14 hits and got effective pitching from all three pitchers used as they prepare for Thursday’s key battle at Baylor with the undefeated Lady Red Raiders.
GPS coach Susan Crownover was especially pleased with the performance of her team as they played really well in all phases of the game.
“That first inning really got us going, but we did a good job hitting the ball today as everybody got a piece,” Crownover said after her team had improved to 13-1 with its 11th straight win.
“Shelby’s three-run homer in the first really opened things up for us and I was really pleased with the way our three pitchers performed. They all needed to get a few innings and I thought they did an outstanding job against a really good Soddy Daisy team, but we wanted to get off to a good start early and we were able to do just that,” she added.
The Lady Trojans are now 15-6 overall as they await Thursday’s big District 5-AAA battle with Ooltewah. Tuesday wasn’t one of Soddy Daisy’s better days as they made three errors, only had five hits and in general, didn’t play the kind of outstanding softball that teams from Soddy Daisy are known for playing.
First-year coach Travis Hale could only shake his head when the final out had been recorded.
“We just weren’t on our game at all today and those two bad innings really hurt us,” he said in reference to that five-run outburst in the first and the three additional runs that GPS scored in the fifth.
“We got off to a pretty good start, but our bats just went flat after that as we just didn’t get things done offensively. Shonna Penney finally settled down after a rough start and I thought Breanna Britton pitched pretty well too, but we just have to be able to make the routine plays on defense to have a chance against a team like GPS.
“We just weren’t on our game today, but I have a lot of confidence in these girls and I’m sure we’ll be back,” he concluded on a note of optimism.
Britton, who had three of Soddy Daisy’s five hits, ripped a double into the gap in left on the third pitch and went to third on a sacrifice by Peri Prestwood. A sacrifice fly to center by Alexis Trimiar allowed Britton to race home with the game’s first run, but the Lady Trojans really didn’t threaten again until the sixth.
Meanwhile, the Bruisers were aggressive at the plate from the first pitch they received.
Kaitlyn Songer singled and went to second on an outfield error while Elizabeth Warwick plated Songer with the tying run before advancing to third on another outfield error.
Winning pitcher Hannah Kincer then reached on a bad throw to first before Macie Stanfield gave the hostesses a 2-1 lead with an RBI-single to right. Shelby Walters then had the biggest blow of the inning with a three-run homer to left as the lead was 5-1 when the first inning finally ended.
Penney allowed leadoff singles in the second and third innings to Songer and Stanfield, respectively, but neither of them were able to score.
Then in the fourth, the Bruisers added another run.
Chapel Cunningham stroked a leadoff single to left, but was doubled off first when Songer lined hard to third. Warwick then collect the second of her three hits and scored on a double into the corner in left by Haley Smith.
GPS then concluded its scoring with three runs in the fifth. Songer’s groundout drove in one while RBI-singles by Warwick and Smith drove in the other two as the lead stretched to 9-1.
The Lady Trojans finally mounted a semi-rally in the sixth as Stephanie Blevins reached on a single and went to second on a throwing error before going to third on a single by Britton. Trimiar then drove Blevins home with a groundout to second.
Haley Harvey then had a two-out infield single for Soddy Daisy in the seventh, but Walters ended the game with a strikeout to prevent any further damage.
Warwick had three hits and scored twice while driving in a pair to lead the GPS offense while Songer, Smith, Stanfield, Walters and Cunningham all had two hits for the winners.
Britton had three hits for Soddy Daisy while Harvey and Blevins both had a single apiece. Trimiar didn’t get any hits, but she did drive in both runs for the Lady Trojans.
Soddy Daisy will host Ooltewah on Thursday while GPS travels to Baylor. Both teams will be among 16 teams in the Lady Trojans Invitational, which will be held at Warner Park on Friday and Saturday.
SODDY DAISY 100 001 0 – 2 5 3
GPS 500 130 x – 9 14 1
Penney, Britton (5) and Swafford; Kincer, Stanfield (4), Walters (6) and Smith.
(email John Hunt at nomarathonmoose@gmail.com)
Soddy Daisy's Hailey Woodcock connects for a hit against GPS.
photo by Dennis Norwood