SMYRNA – The Chattanooga Christian Lady Chargers will be in the Division II-Class AA state softball finals at MTSU on Thursday for the third straight year, but it won’t be against the Baylor Lady Red Raiders.
Baylor’s incredible run of nine straight D-II-AA crowns came to an end late Wednesday afternoon here at the Cedar Stone Park, where games had been moved to following Tuesday’s heavy rain.
It’s been another great season for Baylor, although they had to play three games in the quarterfinal round to advance after beating Tipton-Rosemark.
CCS opened play with a 4-2 win over St. Benedict while Baylor followed with an 8-4 win over Lipscomb Academy.
The Lady Chargers beat Baylor for the first time this season with an amazing come-from-behind 8-6 win in a game where Baylor scored six runs in the fifth to overcome a 1-0 CCS lead, only to watch as the Lady Chargers scored four in the bottom of the frame to get within one before adding three more in the sixth.
With the Lady Chargers finished for the day after advancing to Thursday’s championship game, Baylor was forced to play a third game against St. Benedict.
After a scoreless first, the Lady Eagles ended all doubt by scoring a dozen runs in the second inning. They added single runs in the third and fourth to win 14-0 in five innings.
Nobody really expected Baylor to even make it back after losing eight starters from last year’s team. Everybody counted them out except themselves, but it was a sad moment to see their season come to an end prior to another championship berth.
“Today just wasn’t our day,” said Baylor coach Kelli Smith after the last game ended.
“We really had to battle to get past that first one, but we all know that only one team leaves here happy and that isn’t us this year. It’s amazing just how far we’ve come this spring as they’ve grown together and continue to be outstanding young ladies. But our main goal this year was simply to get here. I just hope we can make it back next year,” she added.
CCS grabbed a 1-0 lead in the first against Baylor when Nyla Halfacre’s triple drove in Hannah Smith, who had reached on the first of four Baylor errors.
CCS southpaw Kylie Black was on her game to be sure as she retired the first 12 Baylor hitters she faced before Adison Wallington led off the fifth with an infield single.
The wheels seemed to fall off for the Lady Chargers as Baylor sent 11 hitters to the plate where they scored six runs, the biggest hits being a two-run pinch-hit single by Ellison DeMatteo before Wallington got her second hit with a two-run, two-out single.
Smith, Millie Fox and Halfacre started the CCS fifth with three straight singles with the one by Fox driving in the first run and a triple by Mary Katherine Flowers driving in two more. Another Baylor boot allowed the final run of the inning as the Baylor lead was suddenly 6-5.
Black then retired Baylor in order in the sixth before her teammates rallied for the go-ahead and winning runs.
Neely Fillman led off with a single before Smith singled for the third straight time. Fox then reached when an infield pop was dropped. Addi Lewis grounded out for the second out, but designated player E.C. Chafin picked her up with a two-run single that ended up being the winning runs.
CCS coach Steven Rogers was just happy to see good things happen for his girls after struggling earlier.
“We just kept battling and that was the difference after suffering some bad breaks earlier in the game,” he said following the game.
“It’s always a battle when we play Baylor, but we had to execute all three aspects of the game to win today and we were able to do that. Kylie Black has been a warrior for us all year and was again today, but we swung at some good pitches and just didn’t give up.
“I’m really happy for us to be able to play in the championship game for the third straight year tomorrow. This has been our goal since we lost here last year.
“But this was a really fun game for me. We were down 6-1, but got some big hits with the one by Flowers being huge. That got the momentum back on our side the rest of the way,” Rogers added.
Baylor’s Smith felt like her team’s lack of defensive intensity played a big factor in the loss.
“It’s hard to beat a good team three times in the same season, but we just weren’t sharp defensively as we normally are. We should win most games when we score six runs, but give Chattanooga Christian a lot of credit as they swing the bats well,” she said after a lengthy chat with her girls.
“We’ve been in this situation before as we had to win a big game on Saturday with the season on the line. Today we weren’t as fortunate,” she added.
Smith and Halfacre both had three hits for the Lady Chargers. Flowers and Chafin had one hit each, but both drove in two runs.
Wallington was the only Baylor player with two hits as the Lady Raiders just had five for the game.
Black was the winner after allowing six runs on those five hits while walking one and recording a dozen strikeouts.
Rylee Jasper was the loser after relieving Brenna Bagley in the sixth.
CCS now plays St. Benedict in Thursday’s first game at MTSU with the first pitch set for 10 a.m. local time.
BAYLOR 000 060 0 – 6 5 4
CHATTANOOGA CHRISTIAN 100 043 x – 8 11 2
Bagley, Jasper (6) and Willis; Black and Flowers.
(Email John Hunt at nomarathonmoose@gmail.com)