CLEVELAND, Tenn. – Soddy-Daisy High School catcher Cameren Swafford began her softball career by helping the Lady Trojans win the 2014 District 5-3A tournament championship.
And she ended her four-year district competition with another tourney title on the way out.
Swafford singled home the first run, added a RBI single and went 3-for-3 on Wednesday as Soddy-Daisy knocked off Ooltewah 4-2 behind the stout-hearted pitching of sophomore Stephanie “Tiny But Mighty” Blevins at Larry Haney Field on the Walker Valley High School campus.
“My teammates saying that gives me confidence,” said Blevins, a sophomore who is 11-3 with a 3.71 ERA and 62 strikeouts in 75 innings. “They know I’m small but I can throw the ball in there and do good.”
Soddy-Daisy and Ooltewah already had earned regional berths by reaching the district title game and now await the outcome of the District 6-3A tournament to determine opponents for the Region 3-3A semifinals on Monday.
The Lady Trojans will host a game at Clifford Kirk Stadium at 5 p.m. The Lady Owls will go on the road to play the District 6-3A champion.
“We get to play another game on our field and that’s great,” said Lady Trojans catcher Cameren Swafford, who went 3-for-3, scored twice and drove in two runs. “We’re going to play a region game there and plan on a sectional game there too.”
Wednesday’s win gives Soddy-Daisy seven tournament titles in nine years. They won six in a row from 2009-14. The Lady Owls won back-to-back crowns in 2015-16.
“We’re not down,” Ooltewah coach Jon Massey said. “We’ll go somewhere Monday to play and see what we can do. I feel good about us winning in the regional and Soddy-Daisy winning and we could play them again next week. That’s the plan.”
The Lady Trojans (30-13) went ahead 1-0 in the first inning when Peri Prestwood tripled and scored on Swafford’s single to left. They added two runs in the fourth on Alexis Trimiar’s RBI double and Swafford’s two-out, run-scoring single.
Aminah Wood produced the final Soddy-Daisy run with a sacrifice fly to push Prestwood home. Prestwood singled to center, moved to second on Swafford’s third hit, went to third on a wild pitch and scored on Wood’s sacrifice fly to right.
“It’s the best thing possible because we haven’t won district in like three years,” said Swafford, a Tennessee-Chattanooga signee who pushed her batting average up 14 points to .449 with a perfect performance at the plate. “I played a lot mostly as a designated player my freshman and we won district. It’s awesome to win it my senior year too.”
Ooltewah (30-7) tied the game at 1-1 when Ally Chernak singled to right and right-fielder Kaylin Fugatt misplayed the ball for a two-base error. Tyler Sullivan, who reached on a fielder’s choice ahead of Chernak, scored and Sullivan wound up at third.
Minutes later, with the bases loaded, Blevins retired Shelby Sutton on a weak grounder to first to end the inning.
“Stephanie pitched a great game today,” Swafford said of her batterymate. “She pitched an amazing game against Ooltewah earlier in the tournament and came back today and did it again.”
Blevins, who scattered seven hits, struck out two and walked five, was never better than when escaping nerve-rattling messes in the fourth, fifth and sixth innings. She stranded a total of eight runners over that span, including leaving the bases loaded in the fourth and fifth.
“She’s got ice in her veins,” Soddy-Daisy coach Travis Hale said.
With one out in the fourth Chernak singled and went to third on a double by Jadyn Raschke, who gave the Lady Owls a 6-5 win over the Lady Trojans on Tuesday with a seventh-inning walk-off home run. Addy Keylon, the No. 9 batter, walked to load the bases.
Ooltewah leadoff batter Tiera Lemon lined a shot between third and short and Trimiar, an All-District 5-3A selection, made a diving stop for the second out. Sutton hit a grounder to Trimiar and fielded the ball at the same time Raschke collided with the fielder. That ended the threat.
“We got runners on but we have to get them in,” Massey said. “They were doing their dead-level best to get runners home. It’s about concentrating at the plate.”
After Kayla Boseman flied out to start the fifth, Carpenter doubled and Sales singled to left field. Sullivan walked to load the bases again. Blevins coolly and calmly retired Chernak on a pop-up behind the plate to Swafford and struck out Raschke.
Lemon reached on a one-out single in the sixth. Sutton grounded out and Boseman was intentionally walked. Trimiar made another diving catch of a line drive off Carpenter’s bat to kill another Ooltewah scoring opportunity.
“Those looked like two sure base hits, but their shortstop made two great plays and probably saved them at least three runs,” Massey said.
Lady Owls catcher Cheyanne Sales hit a solo home run leading off the seventh.
However, Sales’ homer came an inning too late and without runners on base.
“I’ve been in a slump but that was a good swing,” said Sales, a sophomore. “We have to put this one behind us and get ready for more softball. We could see Soddy-Daisy again down the line.”
It was Sales’ eighth homer and tied her for the team lead with Boseman. Sales is now batting .386 on the season and has 31 RBIs.
The homer didn’t rattle Blevins, who was hoisted by teammates in a postgame celebration.
The little right-hander retired Sullivan on a fly ball to right; Chernak grounded out and Raschke struck out on a high fastball.
“I was nervous in those three innings,” said a happy Blevins, tears of joy on her face. “I knew the defense would make plays behind me. This means a lot to our team.”
One immediate impact of the victory is the Lady Trojans will have to make room for another district softball championship plaque.
Note: Ooltewah first baseman Aubbie Collake, suspended from school after an incident at the senior prom, rejoined the team Wednesday but did not play. Collake is hitting .467 with four home runs and 22 RBIs.
LINESCORE
Soddy-Daisy 100 201 0 – 4 7 1
Ooltewah 010 000 1 -- 2 7 1
Blevins and Swafford; Patterson and Sales.
(Contact Larry Fleming at larryfleming44@gmail.com and on Twitter @larryfleming44)