Dickson County Ousts Ooltewah, 6-5, In Epic 12-Inning Thriller

Lady Owls Waste Early Chances, Finish Third In AAA State Softball

  • Friday, May 22, 2015
  • Larry Fleming
Ooltewah right-fielder Bailey Kennedy makes a spectacular diving catch of a line drive hit by Dickson County's Selena Crafton during their Class AAA softball state tournament game in Murfreesboro. Dickson beat the Lady Owls, 6-5, in 12 innings.
Ooltewah right-fielder Bailey Kennedy makes a spectacular diving catch of a line drive hit by Dickson County's Selena Crafton during their Class AAA softball state tournament game in Murfreesboro. Dickson beat the Lady Owls, 6-5, in 12 innings.
photo by Dennis Norwood

MURFREESBORO, Tenn. – For Ooltewah, more heartbreak followed heartbreak.

After a tough loss to Wilson Central on Thursday, the Lady Owls fought furiously with Dickson County in an epic 12-inning marathon Friday before the Lady Cougars’ Keely Buchanan laced a game-winning single up the middle to end  the game and Ooltewah's masterful season.

Second-ranked Dickson County, which lost to Ooltewah 3-2 in nine innings on Wednesday, was beaten by Wilson Central, 6-5, Friday afternoon to win the TSSAA Spring Fling Class AAA state softball championship.

What may haunt the Lady Owls (40-10), led by senior Allie Jones and freshman Kayla Boseman, two of Chattanooga's best softball players, for some time in the off season were two golden opportunities to score in the sixth and seventh innings, but they came up empty both times.

Ooltewah loaded the bases with none out and failed to score in the sixth.

In the seventh, the Lady Owls got a double and walk to start the inning, but had two runners thrown out at third and the game remained tied at 3-3.

“That was the toughest game I’ve ever played,” Jones said. “I’ve never played 12 innings before. I never thought I’d get to state, but we played on the last day, finished third in the state and that was awesome.”

Jones, who will play collegiately at Lincoln Memorial University, had given Ooltewah a 5-3 lead in the 11th inning – the international rule was in effect with a runner starting the inning on second base – with a clutch two-out single to right field.

“I had a 3-2 count and told myself to swing at every pitch, hit it where the pitch was thrown,” Jones said. “With the two-run lead I felt great, but Dickson County didn’t give up, just like we never gave up. They came back and beat (top-ranked) Siegel the night before and they did it against us. They’re a great team.”

The game was classic from start to finish, two Goliaths going at each other at the Starplex softball complex.

“What a game,” second-year Ooltewah coach Jon Massey said. “It was fun and exciting.”

Ooltewah had 10 hits. The Lady Cougars eight, but got the team’s most important one of the season when Buchanan smacked a grounder past pitcher Boseman with one out in the 12th to win the game.

“You have to give them credit,” Boseman said. “They’re a good-hitting team. We battled and battled all day, but they got the hit that really counted.”

Both starting pitchers went the distance and it was a very long haul on a pleasant, sunny day with a brisk breeze blowing from left to right field throughout.

One of the hits off Boseman was a solo homer by second baseman Ashley Scott leading off the second inning. The Lady Owls had taken a 1-0 lead in the first when Shelby Sutton singled to left-center and scored on Boseman’s two-hit double to right that needed about 12 inches to clear the fence for a homer.

Boseman struck out five and walked one. She threw 142 pitches, 93 for strikes.

Dickson County’s Brooklin Lee, who has a brilliant knee-buckling change-up in her pitching arsenal, matched Boseman pitch for pitch for over two hours. She turned right around and limited third-ranked Wilson Central to three hits, but gave up six runs in the  first two innings in the title-game setback.

A junior wearing double zero on her jersey, Lee fanned 10 and walked two and escaped the treacherous situations in the middle innings to keep the Lady Cougars in the hunt for a spot in the championship game. She displayed pin-point control, throwing 168 pitches with 109 in the strike zone.

“Our approach in this game was so much better than (Thursday) when we lost to Wilson Central,” Massey said. “Looking back when you’ve got the bases loaded and no outs, you’ve got to score some runs.”

After Jones’ RBI double and the homer by Scott, who went 3-for-5 in the game, the two teams settled in for an old-fashioned softball brawl on the ballfield.

Summer Williams started the Lady Owls’ third inning and moved to second on a sacrifice bunt by Tiera Lemon. Shelby Sutton was hit by a pitch. Jones hit a grounder that first baseman Makray Odom got a glove on, but the ball rolled into right field and Williams scored to give Ooltewah a 2-1 lead.

In the fifth, Lemon led off with a hit to left, moved to second on Sutton’s sacrifice bunt and went to third when and scored when Lee fired a wild pitch high-and-wide that catcher Becca Estes had no chance to catch.

Ooltewah led, 3-1.

The advantage didn’t last long.

Allison Pendergrass singled to start the Lady Cougars’ fifth, raced to third on Keely Bell’s single and scored on Estes’ sacrifice fly to left. Boseman caught Jadyn Raschke’s throw from the outfield, but threw wide-right of second and Bell scored on the error to tie the game at 3-all.

The Lady Owls then let two great chances to score slip through their fingers.

In the sixth, Aubie Collake doubled to right-center. Bailey Kennedy reached on a bunt single and Raschke punched a single to left field to load the bases.

Williams bounced into a 1-3 fielder’s choice, Lemon popped out to second, Sutton struck out and the inning was squandered.

An inning later, Jones doubled to the gap in left-center. Boseman walked. Dickson County, which took a 41-5 record into the title showdown, the turned back-to-back infield groundballs into force outs at third base and Lee induced Kennedy into an inning-ending groundout.

“We had plenty of chances to score, but it was a woulda, coulda, shoulda kind of thing,” Jones said. “Dickson County had chances, too. It didn’t happen for us, but we kept making the game longer by fighting to the last pitch.”

With neither team able to punch a run home for five innings, they broke loose in the 12th.

Weariness for the Lady Owls and Lady Cougars was clearly evident.

Kennedy started at second base. Raschke struck out and Williams punched a single down the line in left and Lemon was hit by a pitch. Sutton lined out to third and Jones followed with her soft-liner just over first base to give the Lady Owls a 5-3 advantage.

There was joy in Mudville, albeit short-lived.

Dickson County’s Savannah Mathis stationed herself at second and waited for something to happen.

Pendergrass sacrificed Mathis to third.

Buchanan then delivered a stake to the Lady Owls’ heart with a ground single to center, moving the Lady Cougars to within a win of their second straight state championship.

“I changed my approach in the game because they were hacking at first pitches and I like to throw first-pitch strikes,” Boseman said. “I tried to mix my pitches and threw a few change-ups to keep them off balance. That’s a good team that hits the ball really good.”

LINESCORE

Ooltewah                                      101 010 000 020 – 5 10 1

Dickson County                           010 020 000 021 – 6 8 1

Boseman and Forrester; Lee and Estes.

(E-mail Larry Fleming at larryfleming44@gmail.com and follow him on Twitter @larryfleming44)

 

Senior Allie Jones had two hits, including a two-run single in the 11th inning that gave Ooltewah a 5-3 lead. Dickson County tied the game in 11th and won it in the 12th. It was Jones' last game with the Lady Owls.
Senior Allie Jones had two hits, including a two-run single in the 11th inning that gave Ooltewah a 5-3 lead. Dickson County tied the game in 11th and won it in the 12th. It was Jones' last game with the Lady Owls.
photo by Dennis Norwood
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