The dream is over.
Ooltewah, the district 5-3A and Region 3-3A softball champion, went down in flames Saturday afternoon, suffering a 6-2 sectional defeat at the hands of upstart Stewarts Creek at Jim Lovell Field.
Slugger Loryn Sherwood was a deadly thorn in Ooltewah's side, driving in four runs with a two-run double in the sixth and two-run home run in the seventh.
Ooltewah’s season ends at 41-6.
The Lady Owls won 40 games and finished third in the 2015 state tournament, but the visiting Lady Red Hawks (39-11), runner-up in Region 4-3A, rallied for all six runs and eight of 10 hits against Ooltewah pitching ace Kayla Boseman in the final two innings to pull off the shocker.
“This is tough,” Ooltewah’s junior first baseman said.
The jubilation on Stewarts Creek’s side of the field was in stark contrast to that for the emotionally drained Lady Owls, who had won 21 of their last 22 games coming into Saturday’s showdown with a state tournament berth on the line.
“This is indescribable,” said Tory Atwood, who has coached the Lady Hawks over their short 3-year history. “I am remarkably proud of these girls. I told them three years ago we were going to be in the state tournament in three years.
“I knew the kind of girls we had coming in and we had them coming from all directions. Everyone bought into what we wanted to do and here we are.”
Boseman and Stewarts Creek’s Kendall Mills were locked in a scoreless pitcher’s duel for five innings.
The Lady Owls had four hits, two which were wasted in the first inning.
The Lady Red Hawks managed just two hits, leadoff singles by the dangerous Sherwood and Giera Dobbins in the second and third innings, respectively.
But Boseman (19-4) ran into quick trouble in the fifth.
Sydney Heath, the leadoff batter, singled to left and Sidney Smith beat out a bunt single.
The runners advanced on catcher Marissa Forrester’s passed ball.
Sherwood ripped a sharp double past third baseman Mabry Carpenter to score the game’s first two runs.
Westin Ramsey bounced out to Aubbie Collake at first.
Ariel McAtee beat out a bunt single and Sherwood scurried home, giving Stewarts Creek a 3-0 lead.
With Mills throwing brilliantly, the Lady Red Hawks felt good about the three-run lead.
“I love that kid,” Atwood said. “She stresses me out sometimes, but she’s done a great job for us all year.”
Boseman, leading off Ooltewah’s sixth, slammed a solo home run to center – her 21st of the season – and boost the team’s morale.
After Collake struck out, Carpenter slammed a solo blast to left-center field and suddenly Ooltewah was back within a strike of the tenacious Lady Red Hawks.
Mills got out of the inning by retiring Tyler Sullivan on an infield grounder and striking out Forrester.
“I was thinking that after the two home runs, all we’ve got to do is go back out there, get them out and come back and score a couple of runs,” Collake said.
Stewarts Creek wasn’t having any of that.
After slapping Boseman around for five hits in the sixth, Stewarts Creek collected three more in the seventh and added three runs that broke the backs of the Lady Owls.
“That home run beat us down a little bit,” Collake said.
Heath singled to left and moved to second on Smith’s sacrifice bunt.
Brianna Brady’s single scored Heath and brought Sherwood to the plate.
The Lady Hawks’ designated player, who came into the sectional batting .360, belted a Boseman pitch over the center-field fence to stretch the lead to 6-2.
“The three runs in the seventh really hurt us,” Ooltewah coach Jon Massey said. “They made it tough for a comeback. If we had held them in the seventh, I thought we could come up with one run, but their pitcher kept us off-balance all day long and only a few of our girls made adjustments against her.”
Mills, 19-9, fanned Bailey Kennedy and Addy Keylon in the seventh.
Tiera Lemon kept Ooltewah alive with an infield single.
Shelby Sutton popped out to third to end the game.
“Just about every team that starts the season wants the chance to go to Murfreesboro,” Massey said. “We have nothing to hang our heads about. The girls hit the ball pretty well and got after it for seven innings.”
Boxscore
Stewarts Creek 000 003 3 – 6 10 0
Ooltewah 000 002 0 – 2 7 0
Mills and Dobbins; Boseman and Forrester.
(Contact Larry Fleming at larryfleming44@gmail.com and on Twitter @larryfleming44)