Monday afternoon just wasn’t a good day to be at Soddy Daisy’s Clifford Kirk Stadium to watch a high school softball game, especially if you’re a member of the Soddy Daisy team.
First of all, it was windy and cold. Add to that fact that the Lady Trojans made an uncharacteristic six errors and you can only imagine just how miserable an experience it was for those young ladies.
So, you shouldn’t be surprised to know that the Silverdale Lady Seahawks prevailed easily, winning 15-3 in a game called after four innings.
Silverdale improved to 9-2 with the win, those two losses coming to the same team in a tournament at Gulf Shores last week. Silverdale coach Jackie Freeland was just happy to see her kids do well in very difficult conditions.
“I liked how we came out and jumped on them early, but the wind was crazy and it was just a weird softball game,” Freeland began after the game had been called.
“We had a lot of hard-hit balls and I liked how aggressive we were from the start, but we still have some things to clean up defensively. And I thought that Ella Cunningham threw the ball well, despite the conditions,” Freeland nodded with a smile.
Soddy Daisy coach Kelsey Nunley Moore wasn’t present for Monday’s game as she’s taking some time off after giving birth to her first son last Wednesday. You can bet your life that she wouldn’t have been the least bit pleased as the Lady Trojans made errors they just normally don’t make.
Grayson Cordell is a Lady Trojan assistant who is filling in for the head coach and she was almost speechless following the game.
“That’s just not us as we’re better than that,” Cordell said after the Lady Trojans fell to 6-3 with Monday’s loss.
“I’m hoping that this was a learning moment for us and I’m just praying we don’t play like that tomorrow when we face Red Bank. We can’t afford to take a break and we must keep our foot on the pedal the entire time, but we have to be able to make routine plays and we just didn’t do it today,” she added.
The first inning was a disaster for the Lady Trojans as Silverdale sent a dozen hitters to the plate to score eight runs on five hits, a walk and three Soddy Daisy errors.
Jaliyah Whitaker and Cunningham both had run-scoring singles while Braylee Raby and Emry Masterson both had doubles, Masterson’s driving in a run.
Silverdale added three runs in the second while adding four in the fourth to finish the job.
Regan Rowan, who suffered the loss after allowing seven of those runs in the first inning while getting just one out, had the biggest bat of the day for Soddy Daisy as she reached on an infield single in the first before ripping a two-run triple into the corner in right in the third.
Lily Blaylock led off with a walk and Abby Faires singled with one out and both scored when Rowan roped the first pitch into the corner.
Ava Blue had a one-out single in the fourth and later scored on a fielder’s choice by Skyler Gooden, but the game ended when Emmie Noles got caught in a rundown between second and third after smashing a double.
Silverdale finished with a dozen hits, including two from Gabbie Hensley, Whitaker, Masterson and Cunningham.
The Lady Trojans finished the game with six hits as Rowan was the only Soddy Daisy player with two.
While Soddy Daisy will be at home again on Tuesday to host Red Bank, Silverdale will also be at home on Tuesday to face Grace.
SILVERDALE 830 4 – 15 12 1
SODDY DAISY 002 1 – 3 6 6
Cunningham and Hensley; Rowan, Webb (1), Pinson (2) and Blue.
(Email John Hunt at nomarathonmoose@gmail.com)