Taylor Neal went 3-for-3 with a two-run home run and a double and host Boyd-Buchanan beat Tellico Plains 4-1 in the District 5-AA high school softball tournament Monday.
Boyd-Buchanan (12-11-1) will play at Meigs County today in a winners-bracket semifinal at 6 p.m. McMinn Central is expected to host Monday’s winner between Tyner and Polk County.
Cureton Gannon was 2-for-3 and drove in the other runs for the Lady Bucs. Katie Henderson pitched the first six innings and had 14 strikeouts.
At Lookout Valley, Whitwell’s three-run first inning was all that winning pitcher Ashton Condra needed. She started out throwing six scoreless innings and finished with a three-hitter in the Lady Tigers’ 8-1 victory.
Whitwell plays South Pittsburg this afternoon at 4 and Arts & Sciences faces Monday’s Signal Mountain-Sale Creek winner at 6. The losers play an elimination game at 8.
The District 6-AAA tournament at Chattanooga State and the District 5-A tournament at Tyner were postponed because of wet grounds. Today’s new schedule at both places are the same as they were Monday.
Nothing was played at the District 5-AAA softball tournament, either. The Cleveland-Cumberland County game, which started Friday, was rained out again and could be made up today. Rhea County and Bradley Central also have to play.
Top-seeded Walker Valley and second-seeded McMinn County await the winners, but fields remain an issue. The tournament tried using the Dayton City Recreation complex over the weekend, but rain prevented play there, too.
Walker Valley coach Chris Doan suggested that the tournament be moved to his field since it didn’t rain in Cleveland, but nothing had been decided by press time.
