Lady Chargers Beat Baylor 4-1 In Deciding Game Saturday

The Chattanooga Christian Lady Chargers won their second straight Division II-Class AA state softball title at Frost Stadium Saturday afternoon, but they had to go the extra mile to do so.

CCS had beaten Baylor 11-2 in Tuesday's opening round before defeating GPS in the winners bracket final. Baylor battled back with impressive wins over Knoxville Catholic on Friday before beating GPS for another shot at the Lady Chargers.

The championship game originally started at MTSU's softball stadium in Murfreesboro on Friday, but play was suspended after five innings with the score tied at 3-3. Somebody finally made a smart decision and changed the venue to Chattanooga and Frost Stadium, where it all ended Saturday afternoon.

The first game is one that CCS would just love to erase from their memory bank as back-to-back errors in the bottom of the sixth allowed Baylor to pull ahead and that 4-3 score was the final that forced a second game.

It was plenty hot on Saturday afternoon, but not a thought of rain, as these two teams battled like championship teams should before the Lady Chargers rallied for a 4-1 victory and their second straight state title as they finished another outstanding season with a record of 29-9-1.

CCS head coach Steven Rogers was somewhat emotional when addressing his team following the last game, but he was happier than a kid at Christmas after it all ended.

"That was a tough game, but I'm really proud of these young ladies as they have battled adversity with the weather all week," Rogers began while his team whooped and hollered in celebration after the post-game awards had been distributed.

"We hit the ball hard, but right at them. Finally, a few hits started falling in for us, but we were able to get out of a bases-loaded situation in the sixth without anybody scoring and that was probably the game. Winning last year was great, but to win again today is a real blessing and much harder to accomplish than most people realize.

"I was really proud of Kylie Black, who just joined us a year ago. I told her at the end to just keep pushing, but she's thrown a lot of pitches this week and I'm sure she's tired. But I'm just thankful we won as we just beat a really good Baylor team," he concluded.

Baylor coach Kelli Smith would have loved to have won another state title, but she was extremely proud of how her team responded after a really poor performance about a month ago.

"We were close today and we made CCS beat us," she said after her team's season ended with a record of 25-11-2.

"We got embarrassed in a game at GPS on April 21 and we had a meeting following that game and made a commitment to each other to turn things around. We did just that and I can't say how proud of how far we've come since that day," she continued.

"We battled to the last pitch today. Chattanooga Christian has a solid lineup, but we made them earn it. I'm so proud of Addison Wallington, who suffered a severe bruise in her foot after getting hit by a line drive in the quarterfinal round. She's been in a boot when not pitching, but for her to do what she's done in the last three days is simply amazing," Smith nodded.

Saturday's second game was scoreless for the first three innings before Baylor catcher Xahara Willis launched an opposite field solo homer in the fourth to put the Lady Red Raiders up, 1-0.

It stayed that way until the bottom of the fifth when the Lady Chargers went ahead with three runs on four hits. M.K. Flowers led off the inning with an infield single before Abby Fillman reached on a perfectly-executed bunt. Then with one out, Hannah Smith singled to left to tie the game before Nyla Halfacre ripped a two-run double to right-center to drive in the last two.

Flowers then earned a walk with two outs in the sixth before courtesy runner Navy Knight scored on a double to left by Neely Fillman.

Baylor had one final opportunity in the sixth when they loaded the bases with two outs before Black ended the inning on a swinging third strike. Willis led off the inning with a double before Wallington walked. Olivia Elkhill then got hit by a pitch to load the bases, but that's where they remained when the inning ended.

Then in the seventh, Ellison DeMatteo had a leadoff single, but never advanced as Black got a called third strike for the first out, a fly to center for the second before ending the game with another strikeout.

Wallington was the only Baylor player to have two hits in the first game, the second one driving in Willis, who had doubled with two outs in the third. Amiya Leach then singled before Elkhill drove in two runs with a double.

Elkhill then reached on a throwing error by the Lady Chargers on the third pitch once play resumed on Saturday and scored what turned out to be the winning run when Riley Jasper reached on another CCS bad throw.

Halfacre got hit with a pitch to lead off the CCS seventh and advanced to second on a one-out single by Kenzie Knox, but the game ended when Black flied to right and M.K. Flowers lined to third.

Halfacre and Neely Fillman both had two hits to spark the second-game win while Willis had three hits for Baylor. Wallington had two hits for Baylor in the first game while Fox and Halfacre both had two for the Lady Chargers.

FIRST GAME

CHATTANOOGA CHRISTIAN 110 010 0 – 3 8 2

BAYLOR 003 001 x – 4 6 1

Black and Flowers; Bagley, Wallington (2) and Willis.

SECOND GAME

BAYLOR 000 100 0 – 1 5 1

CHATTANOOGA CHRISTIAN 000 031 x – 4 8 0

Wallington and Willis; Black and Flowers.

(Email John Hunt at nomarathonmoose@gmail.com) 
Chattanooga Christian Wins Second State Softball Title - Chattanoogan.com

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