Alexis Trimiar leads Lady Trojans
CLEVELAND, Tenn. — Soddy-Daisy’s Alexis Trimiar led off the bottom of the first inning by hitting a looper to center field that neither Walker Valley second baseman Ali King, going back, nor center fielder Sydney Ventura, coming in, could get to. And it not only fell in for a single, it proved to be a sign of things to come.
The ball seemingly bounced the Lady Trojans’ way from start to finish Sunday at Walker Valley, and they went on to defeat the Lady Mustangs 6-1 in a winners-bracket semifinal in the District 5-AAA high school softball tournament.
Ooltewah beat McMinn County 8-0 in the other semifinal. Soddy-Daisy (28-12) will play Ooltewah (28-5) in the winners-bracket final at 7 tonight at Walker Valley.
Peri Prestwood followed Trimiar with another pop-fly single, this one to right, and Cameren Swafford’s bunt rolled to a perfect spot between the pitching circle and third to load the bases. The Lady Mustangs turned a double play to cut short the rally, but not before Aminah Wood was hit by a pitch to bring in a run.
Soddy-Daisy added two unearned runs in the second, then scored three more runs in a bizarre third.
It started with Courtney Daughtrey reaching on a throwing error. Haley Harvey then popped up a bunt, but with third baseman Miranda Young charging, the ball carried over her head and fell for a single.
After a baserunning obstruction call resulted in an out, there were still two on when Hailey Woodcock sent a high fly to deep center. Ventura chased it down, but when she reached up to try to make the catch in front of the fence, the ball hopped out of her glove and over for a 6-0 lead.
“Finally some balls rolled around our way for a change,” said Soddy-Daisy coach Travis Hale, whose team had two one-run victories over the Lady Mustangs during the district regular season.
Katelyn Howell homered leading off the fifth for one of two Walker Valley hits off winning pitcher Shonna Penney. The senior right-hander walked three, hit one batter and struck out nine.
“I’m very pleased with the way she threw all day,” Hale said. “She kind of hit a little spell there in the fifth inning, but she came right back in the sixth and seventh.”
Trimiar ended up with 3-for-4 with a triple and two runs scored. Harvey went 2-for-3 and Prestwood and Swafford were each 2-for-4 with an RBI.
› Ooltewah 8, McMinn County 0: Winning pitcher Kayla Boseman, who threw a one-hitter with 10 strikeouts and allowed her only walk in the final inning, didn’t need a lot of offensive help, but the Lady Owls gave her a three-run lead after three innings and added four in the fourth. Shelby Sutton’s two-RBI triple highlighted the rally.
“In the fourth we got those four that made it seven,” Ooltewah coach Jon Massey said. “At that point we’re just thinking about getting outs and hoping we can end it in five. We just didn’t get the other two runs.”
Tiera Lemon went 3-for-4 in the victory and Tyler Sullivan was 2-for-2 with a double and an RBI. Boseman, who doubled, and Ally Chernak each went 2-for-4 with an RBI for Ooltewah, which had its way with the Lady Trojans in the two regular-season meetings.
Hale said slowing the Lady Owls’ offense is something his team must do.
“You go with what got you here,” Massey said. “Everybody’s going to throw their best, and you’ve just got to try and get the win. It will be big, because that way you won’t have to come back on Tuesday and try to win two.”
Contact Kelley Smiddie at ksmiddie@timesfreepress.com or 423-7576653. Follow him on Twitter @KelleySmiddie.