4 teams and a trophy highlight day 3 of the 2024 TSSAA Spring Fling for Chattanooga area programs
Team FYN Sports, TeamFYNSports May 28, 2024
BY JEFF CATE (TEAM FYN SPORTS CONTRIBUTOR) – A few programs needed to make sure they had room for one more on their way back to Chattanooga Thursday night, a state championship trophy to be specific! Check out the Day 3 Spring Fling notebook below to see who brought home championships and other action from Murfreesboro
SOFTBALL
Walker Valley beats Nolensville, loses to Dobyns Bennett (both by 3-2 scores) = check out the link for the in-depth recap here:
Creek Wood 6, Soddy Daisy 5 = The Lady Trojans and Creek Wood was series of comebacks and never giving up the 2 games they played each other at Spring Fling. After rallying from a 4-2 deficit to win game 1 on Tuesday by a score of 5-4, these 2 met in an elimination game. Creek Wood put up 3 runs in the 2nd inning to erase a 1-0 Soddy Daisy advantage they had gotten in the first on a Regan Rowan RBI single to take the lead 3-1. The Lady Trojans responded in the top of the 3rd on sacrifices from Rowan and Abigail Faires to get 2 runs across home plate, tying the game at 3-3. The Red Hawks would take the lead back, 4-3, in the 4th inning on an RBI single from Allison Bradford, scoring Kendal Bryant after she had tripled the at-bat before. Creek Wood would another run on a Lilly Killebrew sacrifice fly, taking a 5-3 lead into the 6th inning. The Lady Trojans got that run back when Ava Blue ripped an RBI single, keeping Soddy Daisy in the game heading into the final inning. A lightning delay with 2 outs in the top of the 7th kept the intensity going a little longer for the Lady Trojans. Lilyana Blaylock was hit by a Creek Wood pitch, then got to second on a stolen base. Faires connected on an RBI single to right field, bringing Blaylock home and tying the game at 5-5. Another bottom of the 7th moment incoming: after getting the bases loaded, Laila Downs-Darden was pitch to bring the winning run across the plate and ending Soddy Daisy’s season.
Silverdale 8, USJ 2 (Division II-A Championship Game) = check out the link for complete recap here:
Baylor 4, Chattanooga Christian 0 (Division II-AA Championship Game) = The Lady Red Raiders won another state championship at the home of the Middle Tennessee State Lady Blue Raiders by beating CCS for the second time in 3 days and outscoring their opponents 23-5 in their 3 games in Murfreesboro. Avery Shamblin dominated from the mound for Baylor, giving up 0 runs on just 3 hits and striking out 13 in a complete game performance. Holly Merritt went 2 of 3 from the plate, including an RBI single in the 3rd and a solo homerun in the bottom of the 5th inning. Riley Olesik also had an RBI single in the 3rd. Baylor finishes the 2024 season with a 28-6-1 record. This is the 9th straight softball state championship and the 17th in school history for the Lady Red Raiders
SOCCER
Boyd Buchanan 1, Notre Dame 0 (Division II-A Championship Game) = The Buccaneers and Irish battled in an all-Chattanooga championship game, with Andrew Pollard’s goal at the 32:24 mark of the first half being all that was needed to secure Boyd Buchanan’s first state championship since 2010. Bucs’ goalkeeper Nathan Randolph stopped 4 Notre Dame shots in a shutout effort while Chase Lundberg had a good game in net for the Irish, stopping 4 out of 5 shots.
McCallie 3, Christian Brothers 2 (Division II-AA Championship Game) = 3 Blue Tornado goals within 3 minutes proved to be the difference as McCallie stopped a Christian Brothers charge in the second half to end their 2024 season undefeated and secure the 4th state championship in school history. Brandon Mathurin, Kenneth Chime, and Elliot Arnold scored the 3 goals for the Blue Tornado at 10:01, 11:05, and 13:03 of the first half.
Follow Jeff on “X” at @TheJeffCate
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