Lady Raiders breeze past Ooltewah
By Josh Peterson
Sports Editor
There is something about the month of May that is special. And the deeper the Coffee County Central Lady Raider softball team gets into the postseason, the more special it gets.
Coffee County left no doubt in the Region 3-AAA semi-finals Monday night in Manchester, ripping 16 hits and plating 10 runs to breeze past the Ooltewah High School Lady Owls 10-0 in a run-rule shortened six inning win.
Casey Vincent tossed her third consecutive shutout to get the win.
“I was able to change speeds a lot and keep the ball down,” said Vincent, who struck out seven and allowed just two Ooltewah hits.
“When I’m able to change speeds I can be pretty effective,” Vincent added.
Coffee County (30-6 overall / 11-0 District 6-AAA) used eight straight hits to push across five runs in the second inning and never looked back.
Brittany Hobbs singled home Taylor Gullett and Cheyenne Willis singled home Chelsea Howell. Juli Layne picked up one of her three hits, a double, to score Hobbs and Willis. Blackburn singled home Layne.
Layne finished 3-for-3 with three runs scored, a stolen base and two RBIs.
“I think the girls were more relaxed tonight than me,” said CHS head coach Terry Floyd, who admitted he had pre-game jitters in the elimination game. “They stepped up … everyone did.”
Even when bad things happened to Coffee County the Lady Raiders produced.
Willis exited the game in the fourth inning after injuring her shoulder on a diving attempt. But her replacement, Ginny Clayborne, blasted her first career home run to center field.
“It was a fastball away,” explained Clayborne. “I just went with it.”
Taylor Gullett singled home Blackburn in the bottom of the sixth inning to end the game early.
The Lady Raiders will travel to Soddy Daisy in the Region 3-AAA title game Wednesday to determine whether they play at home or on the road Friday in the state sectional.