The 2017 version of the Lady Trojans Invitational softball tournament at Warner Park this weekend had 16 of the best teams in the state present, including three defending state champions.
When the final out had been recorded and the last pitch thrown, it was those happy young ladies from Meigs County who went home with the biggest trophy as they defeated Baylor in the championship game of the Gold division by a 3-0 final.
The defending Class A state champ Lady Tigers had lost a tough nine-inning game at CAK Thursday night and were still stinging a bit from that defeat, but they played impressive softball on Friday and Saturday to win three games on each day and to head back to Decatur with their second invitational title in the past three weeks.
Meigs finished first in its pool with wins over Soddy Daisy, Wilson Central and Sequatchie County on Friday as they allowed three total runs in those three games.
Junior right-hander Ashley Rogers, who has already committed to play for the Tennessee Lady Vols, didn’t allow a single run on Saturday as they beat Creek Wood 4-0 in the quarterfinal round before blanking Halls 3-0 in the semifinal and then posting an identical score against Baylor, the two-time Division II state champ.
Baylor had finished second in its pool with wins over East Hamilton and East Ridge before taking their first loss of the season by an 8-5 final against Christian Academy of Knoxville.
The Lady Red Raiders bounced back Saturday to blank Ooltewah by a 2-0 final before getting even with CAK in a 6-4 semifinal victory.
Baylor has one of the best hitting teams around and the Lady Raiders are capable of scoring a lot of runs in a hurry, but they had no answer for Rogers, who pitched another complete game while allowing just three hits and a walk while striking out 11.
The only blemish on the scoresheet for Rogers in the first five innings was a one-out walk to Abby McNamara in the first inning.
“Our main goal today was just to play our game and to stay focused as well as possible,” said Rogers, who celebrated her 17th birthday on Thursday.
“We knew we had to be mentally tough, but it feels good for a little school like Meigs County to beat a big school like Baylor,” she added.
Sophomore Emily Rye, who had a bone-crushing collision with the CAK catcher late in that game, got Baylor’s first hit with a leadoff double in the fifth. Chandler Gentry then reached on a bunt single, but the hard-throwing righty avoided any further damage with a strikeout, a fielder’s choice and then a liner to left that Lindsey Ward saved the day on with a shoestring grab for the third out.
Losing pitcher Ace Sellers had the third hit for the Lady Raiders in the seventh, but Rogers got Brinley Garrison on a grounder to third to end the game.
Sellers, who is just an eighth grader, matched Rogers pitch for pitch in the early going as Meigs only had one hit through the first five innings.
The Lady Tigers scored their first run in the third as Kaylie Moore led off with a single, went to second when Aubrey Reed got hit by a pitch and then scored on back-to-back grounders to second with Madison Crabtree getting the RBI.
The score remained 1-0 until the seventh and that’s when Meigs added a pair of insurance runs, although Rogers really didn’t need them the way she was pitching.
Alyson Crowder reached on an infield hit while Kassidy Kenny followed with a single to right. Arika Reed then reached on a bunt single to load the bases before Moore singled up the middle to drive in her team’s second run. The bases were still loaded as Reed got the easy RBI with a walk.
Sellers was then replaced by Macy Ann McKnight, who was able to retire the next three batters without further incident.
Meigs County coach Jeff Davis was all smiles after his team had improved to 23-2 with six straight wins in the last two days.
“This is a real good win against a very good softball team, but pitching and defense were again the key for us and we just had enough hits to win,” Davis said while celebration photos were being snapped by parents and other Meigs County fans.
“Those last two runs really helped, but we just came down here this weekend to find out what we’re made of. It was a really good tournament with some outstanding teams. We’re just proud to be part of it, but we’ve now won two invitational tournaments this month and that feels pretty good.
“Now we’re all hoping for rain on Monday as we’re tired and really need a day off,” he concluded.
Baylor coach Kelli Smith was pretty matter of fact after her team’s record dropped to 17-2 for the season.
“That was a great game and we knew it would be, but Ashley Rogers is the real deal and a phenomenal pitcher,” the veteran coach praised the Lady Tiger junior.
“We were hoping to stay within a run or two, but the only inning where we had a chance to do anything was the sixth and that ended with the great catch in left.
“We played two great teams before this last game and I thought that Ace was lights out in the win over Ooltewah. Then in the game against CAK, we were just hoping to play them again after we lost to them on Friday when we played our worst game of the season and gave up seven unearned runs in an 8-5 loss.
“And I’m just thankful that Emily Rye is okay after that horrible collision at home plate. She’s had a great last three days and I’m sure she’ll be sore tomorrow, but she’s tough and I know she’ll bounce back in a hurry,” Smith added.
While Rogers was the winning pitcher with the three-hit shutout, Sellers took the loss after allowing all three runs on six hits. She also walked two, struck out two and hit three.
Moore was the only Meigs player with two hits while Ward, Crowder, Kenny and Arika Reed had one apiece.
Rye, Sellers and Gentry had the only hits for Baylor.
Central’s Lady Pounders came back to claim championship honors in the Silver division with a 10-0 victory over East Hamilton in the final game.
Central had advanced to that round with a 7-0 win over East Ridge and a 3-1 victory over Soddy Daisy.
MEIGS CO. 001 000 2 – 3 6 0
BAYLOR 000 000 0 – 0 3 1
Rogers and Aubrey Reed; Sellers, McKnight (7) and Rich.
(email John Hunt at nomarathonmoose@gmail.com)