Lady Trojans edge Walker Valley
Power hitting early coupled with powerful pitching throughout proved to be a recipe for success Tuesday for the Soddy-Daisy softball team.
The Lady Trojans got firstand second-inning home runs from Alexis Trimiar and Aminah Wood to back the two-hit pitching of Shonna Penney in a 3-2 defeat of Walker Valley at Soddy-Daisy.
Ooltewah leads the District 5-AAA standings, at least in the loss column, at 2-0. Before Tuesday, the most recent district games for Soddy-Daisy (13-5, 3-1) and Walker Valley (10-7, 3-3) were narrow losses, the Lady Trojans losing 1-0 at East Hamilton and the Lady Mustangs losing 5-4 at McMinn County.
“It’s still early in our league season, but it’s a big help,” Soddy-Daisy coach Travis Hale said of Tuesday’s victory. “It kind of helps make you feel better, coming off a loss like that.”
Said Walker Valley coach Lauren Limburg: “I think we’ve got a great district, a tough district. Honestly, all we can be concerned about is the next game. Actually, the next inning. We’ve got a young team. We’re concerned with the process more than results. We can’t worry about the district standings or a loss. You win every inning, you win the game.”
Soddy-Daisy won the first two innings, thanks to a solo shot from Trimiar and a two-run blast from Wood. Penney also surrendered a two-run homer, off the bat of Kaylee Hughes with two out in the fourth.
But the Walker Valley runs were unearned because the inning began with the Lady Trojans’ only error. The senior right-hander walked one and hit one batter.
“She did an incredible job,” Hale said. “Eight strikeouts, two hits and a complete game. I’m very proud of her effort. She was hitting her spots. She was making her pitches work.”
Natalie Pruitt came on in relief for Walker Valley and allowed three hits over five shutout innings with no walks and four strikeouts. Limburg praised the effort by her freshman left-hander but was not as pleased with the Lady Mustangs’ offense.
“I thought she mixed up her pitches, mixed up her spots and mixed up her spins,” Limburg said of Penney. “Sometimes you just have to tip your hat. But I thought we needed to do a better job adjusting at the plate, especially after that first at-bat. That’s part of knowing what to expect. We have to talk with each other. We should have a sense of what the umpire is calling, because every umpire is different. We have to be mature enough hitters to adjust to the pitcher and the umpire’s pitch calls.”
Courtney Daughtrey went 2-for-3 for the Lady Trojans. Both hits were doubles, one coming right before Wood’s home run.