Chattanooga Times Free Press

Baylor’s bats big in sweep

BY STEPHEN HARGIS STAFF WRITER

During the break between the first and second game of Thursday’s Division II-AA state quarterfinal series, several buzzards began circling near the Baylor softball field.

Considering the way the Lady Red Raiders had just demolished St. Benedict, the symbolism was clear. And sure enough, on the heels of that 12-2 victory, Baylor struck for five quick runs in the first inning of the second game on its way to a convincing series sweep with a 16-2 win.

“I wanted to send a message, but more than to any potential opponent, I wanted to send a message to our players that we are a good hitting team,” said Baylor coach Kelli Smith, whose team earned a return trip to next week’s TSSAA Spring Fling with the two five-inning wins. The Lady Red Raiders will be going for a Tennessee-record seventh consecutive state title.

“We haven’t really hit the ball well so far this month, so I thought it was important to be aggressive and let our players get some confidence in what they’re capable of. Once we got that first big inning going, we were really rolling.”

In game one, St. Benedict actually jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first inning, but Baylor countered with seven in the second and continued pouring it on with runs in each of the following three innings.

Morgan Sharpe’s grand slam highlighted the Lady Red Raiders’ offensive explosion in the opener and Katie Raper added a two-run homer, while Kaylee Snyder struck out 11 of the final 15 batters she faced and allowed just one hit after giving up the leadoff homer.

Eight of Baylor’s nine batters reached base at least once in each of the games, with Cadashia Collins and Raper drilling back-to-back homers in the first inning of the

second game. Raper, Sharpe, Addi Yates, Raven Jones, Holly Merritt and Riley Oleksik all had at least two hits in the second game, with Merritt and Oleksik driving in two and the other three all scoring at least twice.

“Hitting is contagious,” Raper said, “and once one person starts us off, that usually leads to big innings.”

› GPS 7-13, CPA 4-1: The Bruisers’ bats ensured they would advance to the DII-AA state semifinals. In game one against Christ Presbyterian Academy, all four GPS seniors had a home run, with Abby Reel going 2-for-4 with a two-run homer and three RBIs. Maddie Grace Hubbard had two hits, including a homer, and scored three runs, while Ansley Blevins was intentionally walked four times.

In the second game, Blevins went 2-for-2 with a homer, two RBIs and three runs scored, Kiki Moody was 3-for-3 with a homer, two doubles and four RBIs, and Isabella Jenkins had a homer, a double and two runs. Emma Leinberger earned the pitching win in game one and Ansley Griffin got the win in game two for the Bruisers (24-8).

› Chattanooga Christian 6-9, Brentwood Academy 5-8: Emily Matthews was hit by a pitch to bring home the winning run and send outgoing coach Lisa Gray’s Lady Chargers (19-15) to the Spring Fling as they swept a DII-AA state quarterfinal series on the road. Matthews and Nyla Halfacre combined to drive in five runs in the game two victory in which Hannah Smith reached base four times and picked up the win in relief. The Lady Chargers won game one in thrilling fashion, scoring three runs in the top of the seventh on a two-out home run by freshman Addison Lewis to go ahead. Smith was also the winning pitcher in the opener. ›

Columbia Academy 6, Silverdale Baptist Academy 3: Emry Masterson’s two-run single in the top of the third gave the Lady Seahawks an early lead, but Columbia Academy broke through for five runs in the bottom of the inning and went on to win the deciding game in the DII-A quarterfinal series. Silverdale’s McCade Cooper hit a home run, Addison Keef had two hits and pitcher Katie Willoughby was strong in three innings of relief while allowing one run. The Lady Seahawks, who on Wednesday lost the series opener 6-2 before winning 6-3 to force Thursday’s matchup, finished the season with a 30-14 record.

› Meigs County 4, South Greene 2: The Lady Tigers scored all four of their runs in the bottom of the third inning, when Lainey Fitzgerald hit an emphatic three-run homer and Carlee McLemore had an RBI double in the Class 2A sectional victory. Fitzgerald had two hits and pitched a complete game, striking out 11 batters to help Meigs County (22-5) advance to the Spring Fling.

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2022-05-20T07:00:00.0000000Z

2022-05-20T07:00:00.0000000Z

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