State Softball: Brentwood Academy splits on opening day

Brentwood Academy’s Lady Eagles pounded St. Benedict into submission Wednesday afternoon, 12-6 in consolation play of the Tennessee Secondary School Athletic Association’s Division II-AA state softball tournament in Murfreesboro.

Brentwood Academy, which lost their opening contest to Baylor 3-0 in the morning session, took out their frustrations on the St. Benedict Lady Eagles, erasing a 6-1 deficit in the second with three runs in the third and exploding for six runs in the sixth.

Kristen Louderback opened the sixth with a single, starting a merry-go-round of batters for BA. Kielli Chacon’s sac bunt moved her to second. Jessie Brown reached after being hit by a pitch, and Caroline Clemmer followed with a walk. Maddie Lindholz ripped a single to right to clear the bases and picking up three RBI. Three batters later Felicity Chandler doubled to clear the paths again and earning three RBI of her own.

The win puts Brentwood Academy into the finals of the losers’ bracket on Thursday at 11:30 a.m. against GPS, an 8-1 loser to Baylor. The winner will face Baylor again for the state title at 5:30 p.m. Thursday at Murfreesboro Starplex softball facility.

BA fell into the losers’ bracket earlier Wednesday, dropping their first game to Baylor 3-0. The Lady Red Raiders used a couple of Lady Eagle miscues and two hits to take a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the first and added an insurance run in the second before being shut down by the Williamson County School. The Lady Eagles had chances to claw back into the contest, but could not break into the scoring column while leaving six base runner stranded.