The Soddy Daisy Lady Trojans didn’t play their best softball game at home Thursday afternoon by any stretch, but they were able to play through some fielding miscues and ended the day on a positive note with an 11-3 victory over the Hixson Lady Wildcats at Clifford Kirk Stadium/Lamar Lasley Field.
The best news is that Soddy Daisy’s bats were as alive as ever as they collected 14 hits and the game ended with nobody out in the bottom of the sixth when the Lady Trojans scored their final two runs.
“I really liked the result as we came out with a lot of energy,” said Soddy Daisy coach Chris Day after his team had improved to 10-5 overall and 2-0 in district play.
“We had a couple of bad innings defensively, but were able to play through it. You just have to have a short memory in this sport, but we also know that we can’t afford to take anyone lightly. Hixson is a scrappy team and we knew they would battle.
“But we just kept swinging and got the result we were looking for,” Day added.
Hixson coach Ricky Ritchie was almost speechless a day after posting a big win over East Hamilton.
“I have nothing to say. We have about three weeks to turn this thing around, but we had a big win last night and may have been too big for our britches today,” he began.
“I’m confident that we’ll be back as we can fix the problems we had today, but we just have to learn how to control difficult situations and we didn’t do a very good job of that today,” he added after his team fell to 8-7 overall and 1-1 in district play.
Izzy Webb was the winning pitcher for the Lady Trojans as she allowed three runs on six hits while striking out seven and walking none.
Lexi Turner went the distance for Hixson and took the loss after giving up all 11 runs on 14 hits. She had four strikeouts and no walks.
Webb retired the side in order in the first before hitting leadoff hitter Turner in the second. She advanced to second on a wild pitch, but that’s where she stayed as Webb then struck out three hitters in a row.
Brantley Bruggink had a two-out single in the third but was stranded after Chloe Turner grounded to third for the last out.
Hixson had its best inning in the fourth when they sent eight hitters to the plate and scored their only three runs of the game. They had four key hits in that inning and benefitted from two Soddy Daisy errors.
Connie Schalk, Olivia Robinson and Bruggink all had run-scoring singles, but they left two runners stranded after McKenzie Kaylor was thrown out at home for the final out.
Meanwhile, the Lady Trojans got off to a fast start and scored six runs for the early lead. They didn’t score in the second or third, but finished the job with a single run in the fourth and two more in both the fifth and sixth, the game ending with nobody out in the bottom of the sixth.
Ava Blue and Lily Blaylock led the way with three hits each and both scored twice. Blue’s biggest hit was a two-run single in the first.
Skylar Gooden also had two hits and scored twice, including a inside-the-park homer in the fourth. Webb also had a pair of hits.
Gooden led off the sixth with a single and promptly stole second before scoring on a fielder’s choice by Blaylock. Abby Faires, normally one of the best defensive shortstops in the game, ended the game on a positive note as her double plated Blaylock with the final run. It had been a miserable day for her up to that point with no hits and two errors.
Bruggink was the only Hixson player with two hits as they finished with six as a team.
Soddy Daisy will be on the road to Murfreeboro this weekend to take part in the Warrior Classic at Riverdale while Hixson will be at home on Tuesday to host East Ridge.
HIXSON 000 300 – 3 6 2
SODDY DAISY 600 122 – 11 14 3
L. Turner and Kayhler, C. Turner (2); Webb and Woodward.
(Email John Hunt at nomarathonmoose@gmail.com)