Staff Reports

COLUMBIA, Tenn. — Morgan Qualls’ double in the bottom of the sixth inning ultimately gave Chattanooga State a 3-2 win over Volunteer State in the TJCCAA/NJCAA Region VII softball championship game Tuesday.

The victory gives Chattanooga State (56-7) its 15th consecutive region title and another trip to the NJCAA Division I national tournament. It begins May 15 in Plant City.

Casey Saunders led off the Lady Tigers’ sixth with an infield hit, and pinch runner Jessica Duncan stole second before Qualls’ hit. Saunders was 2-for-3 with an RBI, and TJCAA player of the year Meagan Masingale was 2-for-3 with two stolen bases and a run scored from her leadoff spot. Like Qualls, Megann Sallinger was 1-for-3 with an RBI.

Brittany Fox (28-4) pitched six innings, allowing all seven Vol State hits and both runs. After she gave up a leadoff double in the seventh, Courtney Alvarez got three outs for the save. Those began with an attempted sacrifice that turned into an out at third.

Fox was voted the tournament MVP, and Sallinger, Saunders and Masingale joined her on the all-tournament team.

Thanks to what coach Beth Keylon-Randolph called “some phenomenal defensive plays,” the Lady Tigers never trailed Tuesday. Shortstop Amber Janus made a diving stop up the middle and got her toe on second base for a forceout, and with runners on third and first base with two outs in the top of the sixth inning, right fielder Britni Pearce turned an apparent go-ahead hit into an out at first.

Kacy Meek pitched a seven-hitter and was 2-for-3 along with Brittani Hill for the Lady Pioneers, who beat Columbia State 5-3 in the losers-bracket final. Meek homered, doubled and drove in two runs and Tiffany Mattingly was 4-for-4 with two runs scored against the tournament host.

Walters nips Cougars

In the state/region baseball tournament, nationally No. 2 Walters State rallied from a 5-3 deficit to edge Cleveland State 6-5. The Senators (50-7) take on Volunteer State today for the championship.

Walters State went up 3-0 in the third inning with the help of two errors, but Andrew Hennen’s RBI double and Ty Nelson’s two-run home run got the Cougars (36-19) even in the fourth and a two-run Travis Borum double put them ahead 5-3 an inning later. Walters got one run back in the bottom of the fifth and tied the score on Kyle Koeneman’s homer in the eighth before punching across the deciding run.