Ooltewah wins 10-0 on Boseman’s no-hitter
Lady Owls win 10-0 on Boseman’s no-hitter
Ooltewah softball coach Jon Massey would be the first to say that his team isn’t in midseason form two games into the high school season. But the Lady Owls’ opponents so far might have a different opinion.
On Tuesday it was Soddy-Daisy bearing witness as Ooltewah backed Kayla Boseman’s no-hit pitching with a 14-hit attack and the Lady Owls defeated the host Lady Trojans 10-0 in five innings. It was the District 5-AAA opener for Ooltewah and the season opener for Soddy-Daisy.
The Lady Owls have outscored their first two opponents 23-2.
“Any team can be beat any day,” Massey said. “We can’t get complacent. It doesn’t matter who we play or when we play.”
Things started going Ooltewah’s way Tuesday on the first pitch of the game, which Addie Keylon dropped down for a bunt single. The Lady Owls eventually loaded the bases with two outs, and then pitcher Stephanie Blevins induced an infield grounder.
But instead of it being an inningender, the throw came to the plate and Keylon beat it there to give Ooltewah an early lead.
“I think that had a big effect on the outcome of the game,” Soddy-Daisy coach Travis Hale said. “There were two plays there we should’ve made and been out of the inning.”
It turned out that was all Boseman needed, although the Lady Owls provided a lot more, starting with a fiverun second inning. Tyler Sullivan and Mabry Carpenter each had a two-RBI hit in the rally — Sullivan’s a double in her 3-for-4 game.
“I’m proud of the way we attacked it right off the bat,” Massey said.
Boseman allowed three baserunners — on an error in the second and two walks in the fifth. She finished with nine strikeouts.
“She was ready to go,” said Massey, whose team plays at East Ridge this afternoon at 5 and returns to district play the next day at neighboring rival East Hamilton. “She’ll be ready to go Thursday. Hopefully we’ll keep swinging the bat and we’ll see what happens. It’s March. Every day we want to get better.”
Ally Chernak went 2-for-2 with a run scored and Aubrey Smith went 2-for-3, drove in two runs and scored one. Keylon was 2-for-4, her other hit a double, and she scored twice. Both Lady Owls’ home runs were solo shots — one from Cheyenne Sales in the third and pinch-hitter Mackenzie Patterson’s in the fourth.
Oddly, the Lady Trojans’ next district game is again against the Lady Owls. It’s at Ooltewah next Wednesday at 6:30 p.m.
Soddy-Daisy must play this entire season without senior shortstop and Tennessee Tech signee Alexis Trimiar, who tore her right ACL during basketball season. She’s had surgery and Hale said she’s recovering well.
“We had four freshmen in the starting lineup today,” Hale said. “We’re young, but we’ll be all right.”
Contact Kelley Smiddie at ksmiddie@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6653. Follow him on Twitter @KelleySmiddie.