Baylor challenges GPS for DII-AA softball crown
MURFREESBORO, Tenn. — For the seventh time in the last eight years, the Division II-AA high school softball state final will feature familiar foes.
Baylor disposed of St. Benedict 13-0 in five innings in the losers-bracket final Thursday at Starplex No. 3 to get to today’s championship game against Chattanooga rival GPS. It is scheduled to begin at 1:30 p.m. EDT. A second game would take place at 6:30, if necessary.
“We’re excited to get to spend another day together,” Baylor coach Kelli Smith said. “Hopefully it’ll be two games.”
The Lady Red Raiders have to beat GPS (22-6) twice to win their third consecutive title and sixth in seven years. The Bruisers defeated Baylor 7-1 in the winners-bracket final earlier in the day.
“Whoever it is, they’ve got to beat you twice, which is a good feeling,” GPS coach Susan Crownover said right after the win. “We’ve got to come ready to play tomorrow. We need to stay level-headed and get the job done.”
The Lady Raiders scored first against GPS when Cheyenne Lindsey singled leading off the bottom of the third. She stole second, moved to third on a groundout and scored on Kamrie Rich’s single to right.
But the Bruisers responded the top of the next inning, getting an RBI ground-rule double by Hannah Kincer and a tworun single from winning pitcher Shelby Walters.
The score remained 3-1 until the seventh, when GPS loaded the bases with two out and Haley Smith hit a high drive to left-center field off losing pitcher Ace Sellers for a grand slam. It was her second home run of the tournament.
“I was thinking, ‘Just let me get up there. Let me swing,’” Smith said of her thoughts while waiting on deck. “She threw me a good one and I just jacked it. It felt better than the first one.”
Smith also caught Walters’ five-hitter, which included two walks and seven strikeouts.
“Shelby’s speed was really good, and so was her movement,” Smith said. “The wind helped her movement a lot. She was on today.”
Elizabeth Warwick went 2-for-3 and scored twice for the Bruisers. Macie Stanfield joined Kincer and Walters at 2-for-4 and also had a ground-rule double.
Lindsey had three of the Lady Raiders’ hits.
“Shelby made some big pitches with people on,” Crownover said. “We got some big hits. We got some bunts down to allow us the opportunities to get those big hits. It took all of them today. You don’t beat them without everybody doing their part.”
Coach Smith said she challenged her team before the losers-bracket final, and evidently the Baylor players accepted that challenge.
“They really exceeded my expectations,” the coach said. “We came out and struck out the side, then put up a seven spot. I felt like every aspect of our game was on tonight.”
Ashton Bazzell had a grand slam in Baylor’s seven-run first inning, and winning pitcher Macy Ann McKnight added another in the second inning for an 11-0 lead. She allowed four hits and no walks and struck out 10.
Makayla Packer returned from the track venue at Middle Tennessee State University, where she had been running sprint events, and went 2-for-3 and scored a run for Baylor (264). Abby McNamara was 2-for-4 with an RBI and scored twice, and Kamrie Rich went 2-for-4 with a ground-rule double.
Chandler Gentry, the Lady Raiders’ only senior since A.J. Johnson suffered a season-ending injury earlier in the year, came off the bench and went 2-for-2 with an RBI.
Contact Kelley Smiddie at ksmiddie@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6653. Follow him on Twitter @KelleySmiddie.