Ooltewah right-fielder Cheyenne Sales gets a low-five from coach Jon Massey rounding third base after hitting a grand slam in a five-run fourth inning Wednesday against East Hamilton. The Lady Owls won 6-2.
photo by Dennis Norwood
Cheyenne Sales came close to hitting two home runs on Tuesday.
She atoned for those close calls a day later with a grand slam in a five-run fourth inning and powered Ooltewah to a 6-2 victory over gritty East Hamilton in District 5-3A softball action at Jim Lovell Field.
“That’s the first grand slam I’ve hit this season,” said Sales, who finished with five RBIs.
“The pitch was a little in but I got all of it and that felt great to help my team out.”
Sales flied out to deep center twice in a 12-2 victory over Soddy-Daisy on Tuesday, but there was no doubt about her fifth homer of the year. It was high, far and long.
“I think (Sales) knew I was going to come in on her and she backed up a little bit,” East Hamilton eighth-grader Syerra Rogers said. “I hit my spot but for her it was probably down the middle. She’s a really good hitter.”
The come-from-behind win enabled the Lady Owls (20-4, 9-1) to move one step closer to clinching the district regular-season title. They have two league games remaining – Monday at East Hamilton (8-13, 2-7) and at home Wednesday against McMinn County.
The two district rivals will take a break from league play this weekend while competing in the 10-team East Hamilton tournament at The Summit.
For the second straight game, Ooltewah played without first baseman Aubbie Collake, who along with several other students was suspended from school following an apparent incident at the senior prom.
Ooltewah coach Jon Massey refused to comment but three sources at the school verified Collake’s suspension.
Prior to the game three players – Tiera Lemon, Shelby Sutton and Jadyn Raschke – were honored on Senior Night. Collake, who will be a preferred walk-on next year at UT-Chattanooga, would have been the fourth.
Once the game started, it took about eight seconds for East Hamilton to take a 1-0 lead. Miracle Gorman hit Kayla Boseman’s first pitch over the left-field fence for a home run. Rogers homered in the fourth to give the Lady Hurricanes a 2-0 advantage.
The Lady Owls, winning their fourth straight game and 11 of the last 12, had been held to five hits – all singles except for Raschke’s one-out double in the second.
Raschke started the fourth with a walk and Marrissa Forrester reached on a bunt single. Lemon, who left the game in the second when colliding with Gorman on an attempted steal at second, put down a sacrifice bunt and all runners were safe when third baseman Sydnie Rogers bobbled the ball and did not throw to first.
With the bases loaded Syerra Rogers found grit and struck out Sutton and Boseman. However, she hit Mabry Carpenter to force in Ooltewah’s first run.
The bases were still loaded.
Sales then drilled her game-winning grand slam to give Ooltewah a 5-2 lead.
“She got all of that one,” Massey said. “I’ve said before that she’s strong as an ox, hits the ball well and walks a lot. People don’t realize that but I think she leads the team in walks. She’s on base most of the time.”
Said East Hamilton coach Norma Nelson about her young star in the circle, “She’s awfully young but I thought she threw well and had them off balance early. I think Syerra gets some pitches up in the zone with her hardball. On the home run, she probably hit the spot in or out but I think it was up a little.”
Sales catches most games but was playing right field on Wednesday and had two putouts.
East Hamilton came right back in the fifth and loaded the bases against reliever Mackenzie Patterson, who walked four in the inning without giving up a run.
After Shelbi Stoltz walked, Sydnie Batten moved her over with a sacrifice bunt. Sholtz was later tagged out at third following Whitney Richards’ grounder to short. Three straight walks loaded the bases and Patterson retired Sydnie Rogers on a fly ball to Sales in right.
Ooltewah added an insurance run in the sixth when Boseman tripled to right-center and scored on Sales’ groundout, sliding home just ahead of a throw from Stoltz, who was playing first base.
The Lady Owls finished with eight hits off Syerra Rogers, who shut down Soddy-Daisy on four hits in the Lady Hurricanes’ 1-0 win on March 30. Gorman scored that game’s only run in the first inning. Gorman doubles and later scored when Syvanna Rogers – all three of the Rogers’ girls are sisters – grounded out.
“She’s really good,” Massey said of Syerra Rogers. “What she did out there today was impressive for an eighth-grader. We left a lot of runners (nine) on because we didn’t get hits when we needed but got a few when we needed to.
“We had one inning where we loaded the bases with no outs and didn’t score. That’s a cardinal sin. You ought to get at least one out of that.”
Nelson said the Lady Owls’ big fourth inning wasn’t the only that has happened to her young squad this season.
“Most of the games we’ve played we were winning but had that one bad inning that has killed us this year,” she said. “It’s a team thing though, not just one player here or there. It’s like, ‘Come on guys.’”
LINESCORE
East Hamilton 100 100 0 – 2 4 0
Ooltewah 000 501 x – 6 8 0
Syerra Rogers and Syvanna Rogers; Boseman, Patterson (5) and Forrester.
(Contact Larry Fleming at larryfleming44@gmail.com and on Twitter @larryfleming44)
East Hamilton eighth-grader Syerra Rogers had a 2-0 lead -- she hit one of two home runs for the Lady Hurricanes -- against Ooltewah through three innings Wednesday. Rogers and her teammates ran into trouble in the fourth and eventually lost the District 5-3A softball game 6-2.
photo by Dennis Norwood