BRADLEY CENTRAL senior second baseman Courtney Webb, left, forces out a Soddy-Daisy runner and fires to first during Thursday’s District 5-AAA action at Bob McKenzie Field.
After a very close first two innings, the 36-4 Lady Trojans broke things open with two runs in the third, three in the fourth and a five-run rally in the fifth to improve to 10-0 in district play.
The Bearettes (7-12, 2-8 District 5-AAA) will travel to Morristown for a weekend tournament today and tomorrow before returning to district action Monday with a makeup game at Rhea County before wrapping up the regular season at Ooltewah on Wednesday.
The District 5-AAA Tournament will open May 4 in Soddy-Daisy.
Playing shorthanded with a couple of starters out due to illness and injury, Bradley went toe-to-toe with the defending state champs early on.
Soddy’s Olivia Williams led off the game with a single and came around to score a few minutes later on a hit by Savannah Moore, the only run of the first two frames.
The Bearettes got a runner on base in each of the first two frames as junior Tori Roberts beat out a two-out infield single in the first and Allison Conley worked a two-out walk in the second, but both were stranded.
Soddy-Daisy rapped four hits for two more runs in the top of the third and then a leadoff triple by Morgan Bailey in the top of the fourth sparked a three-run rally.
The only Bradley base runner in the final three innings came when freshman Abby Abernathy was hit by a pitch with one out in the bottom of the fourth. Classmate Chandler Grady sacrificed her to second with a perfect bunt she almost beat out, but Abernathy was left standing when the final out was recorded.
@:Five hits, including three doubles, and a Bearette error led to the Lady Trojan 5-spot in the final frame to salt the early exit.
LADY TROJANS 11, BEARETTES 0
Soddy-Daisy 102 35 - 11 15 0
Bradley Central 000 00 - 0 1 1
WP: Tori Denayer 5 IP, 4 K’s, 1 H, 1 BB, 1 HBP, 0 ER. LP: Allison Conley 5 IP, 2 Ks, 16 H, 1 BB, 10 ER. 3B: Morgan Bailey (SD). 2B: Cassidy Hackney, Haley Reynolds, Bailey (SD). RBIs: Haley Reynolds 3, Olivia Williams 2, Bailey 2, Savannah Moore, Hannah Smith, Jessica Boles (SD). Records: Soddy-Daisy 36-4, 10-0 District 5-AAA; Bradley Central 7-12, 2-8 District 5-AAA.
