Soddy Daisy and Rhea County are an even 5-5 against one another since April of 2018, but likely not for long. The Trojans will look to defend their home field on Saturday against the Golden Eagles at 10:00 a.m. Both come into the contest bolstered by wins in their previous matches.
The scorekeeper got an easy start on Friday as neither Soddy Daisy nor Bradley Central made it on the board until the fifth inning. The Trojans' pitcher stepped up to hand the Bears a 5-0 shutout. The game was the first time the Trojans have beaten the Bears on their field since May 8, 2019.
Stephen Vickers
| 03/24/25 @ Red Bank | 1 |
| 03/28/25 @ Blackman | 1 |
| 03/13/25 @ Rhea County | 3 |
| 04/18/25 @ Bradley Central | 11 |
Not much got past Stephen Vickers, who gave up just six hits and racked up 11 Ks to keep Bradley Central off the board. Those 11 strikeouts set a new season-high mark for Vickers.
On the hitting side, Soddy Daisy saw five different players step up and record at least one hit. One of them was Brayden Maynor, who went 2-for-3 with one RBI. Braden Shell also deserves some recognition as he hit his first double of the season.
Meanwhile, Rhea County posted their closest victory since March 21st on Friday. They had just enough and edged out Bradley Central 4-3.
Casen Kinney was incredible, going 2-for-3 with four stolen bases and one RBI. That's the most stolen bases he has posted since back in March. Another player making a difference was Halston Shaver, who went a perfect 1-for-1 with two runs and one double.
Soddy Daisy pushed their record up to 15-9-1 with the win, which was their third straight on the road. The road victories came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 1.3 runs on average over those games. As for Rhea County, their win ended a three-game drought on the road and puts them at 7-17.
The pitchers for both teams better look sharp on Saturday as neither team is afraid to steal. Soddy Daisy has been swiping bases left and right this season, having averaged 2.7 stolen bases per game. However, it's not like Rhea County struggles in that department as they've been averaging an even more impressive 3.7 stolen bases. The only question left is which team can snag more.
Soddy Daisy was able to grind out a solid victory over Rhea County in their previous matchup back in March, winning 6-2. Do the Trojans have another victory up their sleeve, or will the Golden Eagles turn the tables on them? We'll have the answer soon enough.
