The opening 2017 state tournament baseball and softball matchups involving local high school teams have been finalized.
The next-to-last pairing came Sunday morning when Ooltewah (32-8) drew Dyer County (19-15) for a Tuesday game with a 4 p.m. (CT) start on Field 1 at the Starplex softball complex in Murfreesboro.
Ooltewah, which lost to Soddy-Daisy in the District 5-3A and Region 3-3A title games, rebounded with a 6-0 victory over Lawrence County in the sectional round behind a no-hitter by Kayla Boseman.
The Lady Owls finished third in the 2015 state tournament, but missed the 2016 tournament after losing to Stewarts Creek 6-2 in the sectional round.
Soddy-Daisy, which went 3-0 against Ooltewah in postseason play earlier this month, suffered a 3-0 sectional loss against Coffee County on Friday.
The Ooltewah-Dyer County winner on Tuesday will face the Coffee County-Gibbs winner on Wednesday at 11:30 a.m. (CT) on Field 1 at McKnight.
The last piece of the local puzzled fell into place later when Central’s Lady Pounders (28-9-1) drew Creek Wood (29-13). That game will be played on Tuesday at McKnight Field 1 at 4 p.m. CT.
Coach LeeAnne Shurette’s squad storms into the state tournament with a seven-game winning streak, all of them shutouts. Central captured District 6-2A and Region 3-2A titles behind strong pitching by Brooke Parrott and timely hitting. It outscored the last seven opponents by 42-0.
Elsewhere on diamonds in Rutherford and surrounding counties, Signal Mountain’s baseball Eagles (29-9) will play Christian Academy of Knoxville (35-5) on Tuesday at Blackman High School at 4 p.m. (CT).
The Eagles, who won the District 7-2A championship but lost to Murfreesboro Central Magnet in the Region 4-2A title game, bounced back with a win over Sweetwater in the sectionals to earn their first trip to Spring Fling.
McCallie (20-13-1) and Briarcrest (24-18) are pitted in a Division II-2A game at Wilson Central High School at 6:30 p.m. (CT) on Tuesday.
The Blue Tornado ousted rival Baylor by sweeping a best-of-three series in the quarterfinals and securing a return to the TSSAA’s grand athletic finales.
In games involving Chattanooga-area Class 1A softball teams, two-time defending champion Meigs County (35-2) will play Jackson Christian (21-14-1) on Tuesday at 5:30 p.m. at McKnight Field 3.
The Lady Tigers roll into the state tournament riding an 18-game winning streak, including shutouts in the last seven contests. In that scoreless streak, the Lady Tigers outscored the opposition 58-0.
Twenty-five of Meigs’ 35 victories have been shutouts, thanks primarily to Tennessee commitment Ashley Rogers.
Whitwell (21-9) drew Forrest (38-4) for its first-round game slated for Tuesday at 4 p.m. (CT) and McKnight on Field 3.
(Contact Larry Fleming at larryfleming44@gmail.com and on Twitter @larryfleming44)