CLEVELAND, Tenn. — The Lady Raiders had opportunities, but wer unable to take advantage of them. On the other side of the diamond, the Lady Trojans took advantage in a big way to earn a decisive softball over Cleveland Monday.
Soddy-Daisy (7-2) came from a 2-0 deficit to take a 5-2 lead in the top of the fifth inning and never looked back in the 10-5 victory.
Regan Rowan earned the win for Soddy with a complete game performance. Lily O'Bryan took the loss for the Lady Raiders (8-2) working all seven innings.
“She did a good job. She probably threw more pitches than she has all year,” Lady Raiders head coach KJ Harris said of her ace. “There were a couple of opportunities we had on the defensive side where I felt like we could have come through for her and maybe not have caused as many pitches as we did. Those were opportunities we just didn't get today. When they come again we'll be ready.”
Both teams did well at the plate with Cleveland banging out 11 hits to the Lady Trojans' 10. The big difference came in the fifth when Soddy-Daisy, trailing 2-0, took advantage of a Tatum Massengale double ad singles by Jenna Sims and Skylar Gooden to tack five runs on the board. The Trojans were helped by a pair of walks and a pair of Cleveland errors.
Kaylee Bayne picked up an RBI single in the bottom of the first and O'Bryan powered a solo homer over the left field fence to put the Lady Raiders out front 2-0.
A hit batter, a walk and a two RBI double off the bat of Soddy's Emmie Noles opened the Trojan's lead to 7-2 in the upper half of the fifth.
The Lady Raiders loaded the bases with two outs in the bottom of the inning, but a strikeout by Roan ended the threat.
Soddy added one more in the top of the sixth on a Massengale rip over the left-field fence to up the lead to 8-5.
The Lady Raider came alive in the lower portion of the frame beginning with an infield single off the bat of Jamaya Hill, who later scored on a Soddy-Daisy miscue. O'Bryan, who reached on the error, raced home when Landri Nelson ripped an RBI double to center. Bayne followed with a single that scored O'Bryan to make it an 8-5 game. The Lady Raiders again filled the bases with runners with just one out, but were unable to gain any more ground after a strikeout and fly ball to center ended the run.
The Lady Trojans tacked on a pair of insurance runs in the top of the seventh on an RBI triple off the bat of Gooden, who later stole home to put Soddy-Daisy up 10-5.
The Lady Raiders got a one out single by Alexis Folts in the bottom of the seventh, but the effort fell short as the Lady Trojans closed out the win with the final two outs.
“I guess, as a coach, whenever you have a team that's hot, especially a team like this; we have worked really hard for this success. We haven't seen this much success early. But, adversity like this is good and I knew it would come, you just never know how your team's going to respond. Now that we know we've got a platform to move forward,” said Harris.
“Normally, we would wait until three or four bats in and make adjustments and know that we're hitting as a group. That means we are going to have to hit late. But, we got a little bit negative some second at bats when things didn't work out our way and that kind of led into our later at bats in the game.”
The Lady Raiders take the field again Tuesday as they step back into district softball against Bradley Central at 5 p.m. The Lady Trojans stay out of district with a trip to Signal Mountain.
Soddy-Daisy 000 521 2 — 10 10 2
Cleveland 101 003 0 — 5 11 2
WP: Regan Rowan LP: Lily O'Bryan HR: Tatum Massengale (SD); O'Bryan (C). 3B: Massengale, Adasyn Wilkey (SD); Landri Nelson (C) 2B: Abby Faires, Massengale, Noles (SD); Nelson (C). HIGHLIGHTS: Skyler Gooden 3RS, 2RBI, Noles RS 2RBI, Faires RS 2RBI, Wilkey 1-1 RS, Massengale RS 2RBI (SD); O'Bryan 3RS RBI, Nelson RS RBI, Bayne 3-3 2RBI, Jamaya Hill RS (C). RECORDS: Soddy-Daisy 7-2,; Cleveland 8-2.