MURFREESBORO, Tenn. – The Silverdale Lady Seahawks were hoping that history would repeat itself, but it didn’t and they were eliminated by the Tipton-Rosemark Lady Rebels here at the Starplex Field No. 3 on Thursday morning.
Silverdale had lost to that same Tipton-Rosemark team in 2018, only to come back a
nd beat them twice for Silverdale’s first state title. The Lady Rebels made sure that didn’t happen again.
Tipton-Rosemark took a 1-0 lead in the first on a run-scoring single by Ali Naumann, but it was a five-run fourth that proved to be the straw that broke the camel’s back for Silverdale.
Silverdale normally plays solid defense, but that wasn’t the case in this last game as the Lady Seahawks were charged with five errors.
The Lady Seahawks stranded eight runners in the game, including two in each of the first, second and seventh innings, but clutch hits never happened as Silverdale was beaten in a shutout.
As you might imagine, there were plenty of tears being shed by Silverdale players following the disappointing loss, but coach Jackie Freeland kept reminding herself that her team had a great season and that this last loss wasn’t going to define their season or their team.
“That was a tough loss as we were definitely flat for this game,” Freeland said after her team ended its season at 28-12 after starting out 2-6.
“This one hurts a lot, but we still had a great season and we’ll focus on that. For us to get this far was amazing as nobody was expecting it, but we just have to keep our heads up. There are a whole lot of teams that would still like to be playing today and we’re fortunate that we were.
“We have a bunch of younger kids who got some valuable experience here this week and we fully expect to be back contending for another state title next year,” Freeland said with confidence.
While Silverdale was eliminated in DII-A competition, the Sale Creek Lady Panthers were put out in Class A after losing 7-4 to North Greene.
And in AA, Red Bank built a 5-0 lead in the first two innings, but had to hold on as they eliminated Greenbrier by a 5-4 final.
Cassia Mitchell had three hits for Red Bank as they had a dozen for the game. Winning pitcher Bailee Phillips, Lexie Wright and Hailey Hanks all had two apiece.
Phillips ripped a two-run homer to put the Lady Lions ahead in the first inning before Wright had a run-scoring double in the second. Hanks also had a big double in the same inning that drove in the final two runs for Red Bank.
Phillips was the winning pitcher after allowing nine hits while walking two and striking out seven. None of those four runs were earned as Red Bank committed three errors.
Red Bank ended its season after suffering a 5-1 loss to Gibbs after the Eagles eliminated Sequatchie County by a 5-0 final.
"We have absolutely nothing to cry or hang our head about as we finished in the top four of the state and I can't be more proud of that," said Red Bank coach Mandi Munn after her team finished its season at 24-10.
"We had a chance and that was all I was looking for. Those last three teams still playing are top notch. I thought that Bailee Phillips pitched gfeat and I can't be upset in the least as we had a great run. With all the injuries we had, nobody expected us to be here, but we had a pretty good tournament," Munn added.
GPS scored six runs late to break up a close game en route to a 13-5 victory over St. Benedict in a DII-AA losers bracket game before the final loss to Baylor.
TIPTON-ROSEMARK 100 500 1 – 7 7 0
SILVERDALE 000 000 0 – 0 6 5
Rice and Wright; Cooper, Sexton (3) and Hensley.
(Email John Hunt at nomarathonmoose@gmail.com)