Walker Valley had its chance right away in the Region 3-AAA high school softball championship game at the Soddy Lake Kids’ Park. Nothing materialized, and that was about it.

Lady Trojans freshman pitcher Kelsey Nunley allowed one hit after the first inning Wednesday and Soddy-Daisy went on and beat the Lady Mustangs 1-0.

Both teams advance to the state sectionals where winners advance to next week’s state tournament in Murfreesboro. Walker Valley (24-11) will play at Siegel, which beat Riverdale 3-2 in eight innings in the Region 4 final, tentatively set for 2 p.m. EDT on Saturday. Soddy-Daisy (39-3-1) will host Riverdale in a game expected to be played Friday, although a time has not yet been determined.

The first two in the Lady Mustangs’ order, Courtney Gobble and Megan Mayes, each reached on singles and were advanced a base with a sacrifice bunt. Coach Chris Doan then tried the element of surprise — squeezing with his cleanup batter. After that was fouled off, Nunley registered the first two of her 11 strikeouts.

“We’ve squeezed in that situation before,” Doan said. “It was early in the game and we were just wanting to get a run.”

Walker Valley foiled a good scoring chance for the Lady Trojans in the bottom of the inning. After Andie Johnson tripled with one out, second baseman Mayes made a running catch behind first base. Johnson tagged up, but was thrown out at home.

“We hit the ball today,” Soddy-Daisy coach Clifford Kirk said. “They made some good plays. I really thought it was going to be a close ballgame. They had beaten us once. We had beaten them twice, and they beat Ooltewah,” Kirk said in reference to the Lady Mustangs’ 4-0 victory Monday over the defending state champion in a region semifinal.

Soddy-Daisy’s third inning began with a single by Mariam Wood. After a sacrifice bunt, Brooke Ward’s single moved Wood to third.

Although Ward had been thrown out trying to stretch her hit, Johnson delivered a hit through the middle for the run. Joining her with 2-for-3 efforts were Brandi Lasley and Ward, who celebrated her 17th birthday.

“We didn’t come out with the same intensity as we had against Ooltewah,” Doan said. “We were still a little timid. They’re still Soddy-Daisy. They’ve built a great tradition and they back it up. Losing 1-0 at Soddy Lake, we can’t hang our heads about that, but we know we were right there and with a few breaks it could’ve been different.”

Region 3-AAA final

SODDY-DAISY 1, WALKER VALLEY 0

Walker Valley 000 000 0 — 0 3 0

Soddy-Daisy 001 000 x — 1 8 0

WP: Kelsey Nunley (21-2), 11 Ks, 0 BB, 2 HBP. LP: Lauren Lawson (11-5). 3B: Andie Johnson (SD). Highlights: Johnson 2-3, RBI; Brooke Ward, Brandi Lasley 2-3 each; Mariam Wood 1B, run (SD). Records: Soddy-Daisy 39-3-1; Walker Valley 24-11.