Soddy-Daisy won the first game as the District 6-AAA baseball tournament finally got under way, but the host Trojans were the only team to walk away from Monday’s games with a win.
Red Bank and Ooltewah will resume an extra-inning game today following Soddy-Daisy’s second contest against Central. While Soddy-Daisy beat Central 3-0, Ooltewah and Red Bank were victimized by a steady shower that halted their game in the ninth inning.
The Owls scored in the first inning and made the lead stand up until the bottom of the seventh when Red Bank rallied to tie it. The kicker for the Owls, though, is that they had scored four runs in the top of the ninth when play was called. Those runs will not count because the game, by national federation rules, reverts to the last completed inning.
Ooltewah’s Clay Campbell, a junior, entered the game with an ERA of 8.05 but matched Red Bank standout Hunter Adkins pitch for pitch.
“It was an awesome game to watch, definitely what you’d call a pitchers’ duel,” Soddy-Daisy coach Jared Hensley said.
His Trojans, meanwhile, also got a great pitching performance — from Andrew McWilliams — who carried a no-hitter into the seventh before giving up a single with one out in the final inning.
“Andrew did a great job of locating his pitches and working ahead in the count,” Hensley said. “He pitched his game. He was a competitor all night long.”
The second game between Soddy-Daisy and Central will be at 4, followed immediately by the conclusion of the extra-inning game between Red Bank and Ooltewah. Those two teams will then play their second game.
* District 5-AAA: At Bradley Central, Walker Valley finished off a rain-delayed game in five innings, 12-0 over Cleveland and McMinn County rallied for an 8-7 win over Bradley Central with a run in the bottom of the seventh.
Walker Valley and McMinn County are scheduled to play Wednesday at 5 in the winners-bracket final. Today, Bradley plays Cumberland County at 5 and Rhea County plays Cleveland at 8 in losers-bracket contests.
Walker Valley’s big hitter was Kyle Policastro, who had four RBIs on a home run and a double.
Bradley chose to walk a batter in the seventh to pitch to Andrew Smith and he promptly picked up his sixth RBI and the game-winning hit in the bottom of the seventh. McMinn was down to its final out when Case Roberts tripled before the walk to set the stage for Smith.
* District 6-AA: Games at both sites were postponed.
At Jasper, Chattanooga Christian was holding a 3-0 lead in the fifth inning when rain forced a postponement of its game with Marion County. The opener of the best-of-three series will resume at 4:30 today with at least one game and possibly two to follow. At Dunlap, Hixson and Sequatchie County never got to start and both games will be played at Hixson beginning at 4.
