“We had a bad first inning,” declared Bear head coach Travis Adams of the 8-7 final. “It seemed like we didn’t come ready to play.”
“We gave up five runs on just two hits. The rest came from walks and hit batsmen,” he added. “That goes to show that any aspect of the game can beat you if you don’t execute it.”
“I’m proud of the way we fought back,” commented coach Adams. “I know it’s early (in the season) and I feel like the pieces are all there, but we just have to put them all together.”
The outcome gave Soddy-Daisy a sweep of the District 5-AAA home-and-home series, which included a 1-0 victory Monday night at BCHS.
Bradley will participate in the Wildcat Classic this weekend. The Bears will travel to Hixson on Thursday for a 6:15 game against East Hamilton.
On Friday, Bradley will take on co-host Chattanooga Central in Harrison at 8:30 p.m., then turn around and face Meigs County at 10 Saturday morning on the same field. The Bears will wrap up pool play against Gwinnett (Ga.) at 2:30 Saturday afternoon. The tournament semifinals and championship game will be played Sunday afternoon.
A pair of hits, two walks and a couple of hit batsmen in Soddy-Daisy’s first eight batters pushed across five runs for the home team Tuesday.
Bradley finally got things going a couple of innings later with a pair of runs in the top of the third, but the Trojans crossed the plate twice in the fourth.
The Bears put together a five-run rally of their own in the top of the sixth inning to tie the game, but Soddy was able to get the game-winner in the bottom of the frame.
After being held to a single hit in Monday’s opener, Bradley pounded out nine of them, including a pair of doubles from senior Chase Wiseman and a two-bagger by classmate Dylan Johnston.
Wiseman and Chandler Duggan both drove in a pair of Bear runs, while Johnston, Caleb Pippenger and Jacob Maynard each plated a teammate. Sophomore Cal Pickel went 2-for-3 with a stolen base, while Jacob Fowler also ripped a pair of hits and scored a run.
TROJANS 8, BEARS 7
Bradley Central 002 005 0 — 7 9 0
Soddy-Daisy 500 201 0 — 8 7 1
WP: Jake Leffew (1-0) 5 IP, 3 K, 1 BB, 1 HBP, 4 H, 2 ER. LP: Jacob Maynard (0-1) 0.2 IP, 2 H, 2 BB, 2 HBP, 5 ER. 2B: Chase Wiseman 2, Dylan Johnston (BC); Andy Wright, Hayden Bailey (SD). RBIs: Chandler Duggan 2, Wiseman 2, Johnston, Caleb Pippenger, Jacob Maynard (BC); Bailey 3, Wright 2, Dillon Clift 2, Caden Ricketts (SD). SB: Brently White, Cal Pickel (BC); Dalton Rogers (SD). Records: Soddy-Daisy 2-0, 2-0 District 5-AAA; Bradley Central 0-2, 0-2 District 5-AAA.
