No fear: Lady Chargers are region champions
Before the season began, Chattanooga Christian School’s softball team bonded on a team retreat where the theme of the camp was overcoming fear.
In the week since the postseason began, the Lady Chargers have used the lessons learned during that preseason camp, playing a fearless style that led them to earn an unlikely Division II-A East Region championship Wednesday night with a 7-4 win over visiting Silverdale Baptist Academy.
The title came against a team that had run-ruled CCS in the first two meetings this season and won four of the first five previous meetings, including another run-rule win the last time they met.
“These kids are just fighters,” said CCS coach Lisa Gray, whose team also knocked off nationally-ranked The King’s Academy, which has played in each of the past three state title games, earlier this week. “I’ve never seen a team as resilient as this group.
“I think seeing a team the caliber of King’s Academy and beating them certainly helped our confidence. Our kids were also motivated to prove we’re better than what we showed the first few times we played Silverdale.”
The Lady Seahawks jumped out to an early lead when University of Tennessee signee Kaili Phillips drilled the first pitch in the home half of the first well over the fence in right-center field.
But CCS answered back in the next inning with a threerun double by Madison Hollis, who was followed by Savannah Ricketts slugging an RBI triple. Hollis made the lead stand as she settled in and scattered five hits the rest of the way to earn the win.
She and Ricketts also finished 2-for-4 at the plate, with Ricketts driving in two runs, including one of two insurance runs in the sixth, which gave CCS a commanding 7-3 lead.
“We never felt like the lead was safe until the end, just because they’re such a dangerous hitting team,” Hollis said. “There’s a huge difference in our team than who we were to begin the season. We may have feared teams like Silverdale before, but now we don’t.
“Now we feel like we can play with anybody and we’re accomplishing things we never have here before.”
After the home run, Phillips was intentionally walked in her next three plate appearances, making it 13 of her past 14 at-bats to be intentionally walked.