Sequoyah’s bid for a District 5-3A championship fell short Saturday in Maryville.
The Lady Chiefs needed to best top-seed Heritage once in two attempts to earn the crown, but a pair of rule-run losses left the team shy of the goal.
However, the 17-3 and 10-0 defeats do not end the softball season in Madisonville. Sequoyah will travel to District 6-3A champion Soddy-Daisy in Monday’s must-win Region 3-3A semifinal — a rematch of last year.
“We talked about it after all the awards were handed out. I told them we are still playing — most teams in the state are not and we are,” Sequoyah coach Allen Roberts said. “We have the opportunity on Monday to go and play a game. Just like Tuesday night, any time you step on the field you have a chance.”
Saturday was Sequoyah’s third straight District 5-3A championship appearance and second runner-up finish. The Lady Chiefs (13-10) have reached the championship in all three seasons since softball went to four classifications.
“We have to take advantage of the opportunity to do that. We reminded them of where we are at. Over the last 10 years, this is our sixth district championship appearance. The girls keep getting to this point and are competing here,” Roberts added. “As long as they are doing these things, they have earned regional right and you have a chance.”
“We flush it and come back Monday.”
GM1: No. 1 Heritage Mountaineers 17, No. 2 Sequoyah Lady Chiefs 3 (5 inn.): Heritage’s offense exploded early. The one run pushed across in the first inning was added onto by two an inning later and four in the third.
A nine-spot in the fifth inning turned the final page in an early defeat for Sequoyah.
“Game one got out of hand and it got to the point I did not want to burn pitchers. We knew we had game two and we were trying to manage that also,” Roberts said. “I feel like we came out in game two and the girls regrouped. Through four innings, it is a nothing-nothing ball game. Bella (Hall) pitched really well, but I felt like she started to get tired.”
GM2: No. 1 Heritage Lady Mountaineers 10, No. 2 Sequoyah Lady Chiefs 0 (6 inn.): Sequoyah’s second effort started off stronger. The Lady Chiefs held Heritage (18-10) to one hit and zero runs through the first three frames.
Sequoyah matched that with Alicia Kimble’s leadoff single, but an ensuing five consecutive outs stifled momentum.
Kimble and Shae Ahlstrom got on the base pads through consecutive outs in the third inning, with Kimble advancing to third, but two putouts halted a Sequoyah strike.
“We had some opportunities to score some runs, but we did not come up with hits to do that. How we beat them Tuesday night was we got out in front and applied pressure,” Roberts said. “It helped us a lot and we were not able to do that today.”
Things shifted in the bottom of the fourth. A leadoff walk got things rolling before three singles in the next five at-bats pushed runs across the plate.
Heritage added 12 hits in the next three innings, catapulting in front with a five-spot in the fourth.
“We came out to start the fifth and we had an error and a couple of mistakes and they got a couple of hits. They did not hit Bella hard the whole time, but it was little stuff here and there,” Roberts added. “They are too good of a team to extend an inning for them and they made us pay the price. When they did that it kind of deflated us a little bit.”
In the two losses, BriAysa Bowman, Kimble, Megan Ladd and Mysterie Shubert had two hit days. Bowman tallied two RBIs with one to Ray.
Across the District 5-3A tournament, Kimble led Sequoyah with five hits and batted .556. She also notched a team-high six RBIs and was walked four times where she snagged four stolen bases.
“Alicia Kimble had an awesome tournament. Even today, she played fantastic,” Roberts said. “She held up her offensive player of the year title, there is no doubt about that. I thought she was fantastic this whole week.”
Kimble, Ladd and Ray were named to the District 5-3A All-Tournament team.
Most Popular
Comments / 0