Red Bank and Soddy Daisy have been bitter rivals for a long, long time, but it hasn’t been quite as intense in recent years as changes in classification have forced them to play in different districts.
They’re back in the same district 6-AAA now and the old rivalry is still alive and well.
Soddy Daisy is tied with Signal Mountain for first place in the district baseball standings and the Trojans defeated the Lions for the second time this week, but both were close as results may have different had a couple of plays gone the other way.
Soddy Daisy won 3-2 at home on Monday and they prevailed again by a final 7-4 on Wednesday at Red Bank, as the Trojans improved to 18-2 overall and 6-0 in district play while Red Bank dropped to 10-8 overall an 3-3 in 6-AAA.
Soddy Daisy coach Jim Higgins knows that Red Bank has improved a whole bunch in recent years, so it was important for his Trojans to stay focused on the job at hand and not get disrupted by other outside issues.
“I’m really proud of my guys for staying the course one more time as we had some timely hits and played some spectacular defense at times,” Higgins said as a light rain began to fall following the game.
“Alex (Pinson) had a strong start, Luke (Camp) did a great job in relief and Cooper (Poe) came in and shut them down at the end. We had a few guys step up and play big roles, including Taylor Hughes, who had a huge sacrifice fly in the seventh that got our lead back to three runs.
“The key for us is playing the game the right way and taking advantage of the opportunities that come our way, but we just want to apply constant pressure on the other team. We showed up, took care of business and we’re sitting pretty right now,” Higgins nodded.
Red Bank coach Matt Roberson has done a tremendous job turning the Lion program around and helping them become a competitive team once again. The Lions didn’t win either game this week, but they were in both and that’s something for everyone on the Red Bank side to be proud of.
“I thought we played pretty well for the most part, but we let them get too far ahead and you can’t do that against a good team like Soddy Daisy,” he began.
“There are a few plays I’d like to have back, but we played those guys two close games this week. Baseball is a game of inches and it’s all about getting ready for the tournaments in May, but we’re a hungry baseball team right now.
“We just want to bring Red Bank back to the way they were back in the glory days and I feel like we’re heading in the right direction,” he concluded with a smile.
The Trojans scored single runs in the first and third innings before making it 5-0 with three in the fourth. Another run in the fifth made it 6-0 and that’s when Red Bank started its comeback.
Sending 10 hitters to the plate in the bottom of the fifth, the Lions made things interesting as they scored four runs and had the bases loaded when the third out was made.
Logan Denton had the only hit in the inning – an infield single – but the Lions benefitted from five walks, a hit batter and a balk.
Anyer Alvarez and Kalel Carter both got RBIs on bases-loaded walks while Sean Brune drove in another with a sacrifice fly to left. The fourth scored on a balk, but Luke Camp got the most important out of the game when he coaxed Jasper Vandiver into a flyout to center for the third out and the bases loaded.
Soddy Daisy finished the game with eight hits while Red Bank only had three.
Logan Williams, Troy James and Braydon Maynor all had two hits for the Trojans. Williams had a two-run single in the fourth while James drove in Soddy’s first run with a two-out single in the first. Maynor singled twice and scored once.
Pinson was the winning pitcher after allowing four runs on just one hit before being replaced by Camp with one out in the fifth. Pinson also had five walks and eight strikeouts.
Camp allowed one hit and one walk in two-thirds of an inning while Poe got the save after allowing one hit in the final two frames. He also had four strikeouts.
Soddy Daisy returns to action on Thursday when they host the CHSTEA Patriots while Red Bank will host Ooltewah on Friday.
SODDY DAISY 101 310 0 – 7 8 1
RED BANK 000 040 0 – 4 3 2
Pinson, Camp (5), Poe (6) and James; Brune, Dalton (6), Alvarez (7) and Alvarez, Brune (7).
(email John Hunt at nomarathonmoose@gmail.com)