Frank Reed has been coaching college softball a long time, including the last 21 years at UT-Chattanooga. He just happens to know a little bit about the game and things that help teams win.
He made the comment earlier in the spring that there are three factors that determine the success of any team on any level. You get good pitching, solid defense and timely hitting and your chances of winning go way up.
That idea certainly applied to the winner’s bracket game of the District 6-AAA tournament at Hixson’s Janet Tate Stadium on Monday afternoon between top-seeded East Hamilton and second-seed Soddy Daisy.
The Lady Trojans did those three things really well while the Lady Hurricanes did not, so it was no surprise that Soddy Daisy rallied for a 5-3 victory and improved to 30-7 for the season.
East Hamilton, falling to 25-10 with what coach Norma Nelson described as “our worst game of the season,” will be back at Hixson on Tuesday to face the Signal Mountain-Central game in the first game at 5 with the winner of that game facing Soddy Daisy around 7.
Should Soddy Daisy lose that second game, the “if necessary” game would be played on Wednesday afternoon.
Regan Rowan got the nod as the starting pitcher for Soddy Daisy on Monday. She had a tough first inning where she walked a couple of hitters before surrendering a three-run homer to Henley Apps with two outs, but she was as good as anybody in town for the next six innings as East Hamilton only had two more hits and didn’t score any more runs.
Meanwhile, the Lady Trojans scored their first run in the second before tying the score with two in the fourth. Then in the sixth with the bases and two outs, a boot by the East Hamilton second baseman allowed two runs to score and that turned out to be the difference in the game.
Soddy Daisy coach Kelsey Nunley-Moore was all smiles when the final out had been recorded.
“We’re going to the region, baby,” she blurted while members of her team continued to clear out the first-base dugout following the latest win.
“I really liked how we played today as we swung at better pitches, got some clutch hits and played great defense. And Regan settled down and pitched great after the first inning.
“I thought we were ready to play today as it was just another game, but I told them early that we couldn’t let one inning kill us and we didn’t. But I’m excited as I really liked how we battled back,” the former SEC standout at Kentucky added.
East Hamilton’s Nelson could only shake her head when it ended, but she’s just thankful that her team gets another chance on Tuesday.
“I thought we played horrible. Our defense was terrible and we left too many runners on base, but I’m really disappointed in how we played as this was probably our worst game of the season,” the said matter of factly.
“We still have to win one more to advance to the region, but we have to be better tomorrow than we were today. We didn’t do anything well today, so tomorrow is do or die for us. We get a chance to redeem ourselves and that’s all that matters,” Nelson nodded.
Ryli Renfro, Taylor Lloyd and Abby Faires all had two hits each for the Lady Trojans.
Renfro singled with one out in the second and scored the first Soddy Daisy run when Carissa Wilson got hit by a pitch with the bases loaded.
Renfro then led off the fourth with a solo homer to center before Wilson’s two-out single sent Faires home with the tying run.
Then in the sixth with the score still knotted at 3-3, Faires had a one-out double to left-center and moved to third on an infield hit by pinch hitter Hannah Patterson.
Wilson reached on a fielder’s choice to load the bases with one out and pitcher Dani Wasserstrom dodged the first bullet by getting leadoff hitter Tatum Massengale on a swinging third strike.
With a chance to get out of the inning with nobody scoring, Skylar Gooden hit a routine bouncer to second that was misplayed, allowing Faires and Patterson to score what turned out to be the winning runs.
The Lady Hurricanes got a two-out walk to Nikki Wasserstrom in the sixth before Emma Sam Reed popped to Faires in foul territory.
Then in the seventh, Rowan retired the side in order to end the game.
While Apps had the big three-run homer in the first, Knox had an infield single in the third and Yulai Woodruff a leadoff bunt in the fifth, but nothing materialized in either case afterward.
Rowan was the winning pitcher after allowing three runs on three hits. She also had eight strikeouts and four walks while hitting one.
Dani Wasserstrom was the loser after allowing five run on eight hits. She finished with nine strikeouts and no walks while hitting one.
The district tournament champion will be determined Tuesday night with the winner hosting a Region semifinal game on Monday.
SODDY DAISY 010 202 0 – 5 8 0
EAST HAMILTON 300 000 0 – 3 3 3
Rowan and Wilkey; D. Wasserstrom and N. Wasserstrom.
(Email John Hunt at nomarathonmoose@gmail.com)