Farragut’s bats silenced by Maryville’s Caylan Arnold
HARDIN VALLEY – Farragut High School’s softball team was on the wrong end of a no-hitter Tuesday night.
The Admirals struggled all night against Maryville senior pitcher and University of Tennessee signee Caylan Arnold all night and the result was a 3-0 loss in a District 4-AAA Tournament game at Hardin Valley Academy.
“It was pretty frustrating out there tonight against Caylan,” Farragut senior shortstop Niki Slone said. “Honestly, I think that was one of the best games that I’ve ever seen her pitch.
“I think we came out ready but Caylan really kept us off balance.”
That was perhaps the understatement of the season.
Arnold had 18 strikeouts and fanned eight of the first 10 Admirals she faced. Farragut pitcher Callie Moore drew a two-out walk in the bottom of the second inning and Slone made the final out of the third inning when pooped up to third.
It was Farragut’s third loss to the Red Rebels (34-9-2) this season but the Admirals (23-13) had one more shot to beat Maryville when the two squads met Wednesday night. Results for that contest were unavailable at press time but a sport in the district championship game and a berth in the Region 2-AAA Tournament were hanging in the balance.
“We only have to beat them once,” Farragut coach David Moore said. “Caylan is tough. There’s no doubt about it.
“I don’t care if she has 21 strikeouts the next time we play. I don’t care as long as we score one run and beat them 1-0.”
Slone agreed.
“I think if we can make contact against Caylan, then we can win,” she said. “I don’t think their defense is quite as good as ours is.”
Maryville, the tournament’s top seed, put all of its runs on the board in the top of the third inning.
Sophomore Lauren Hamby led off the frame with a single before two errors by the Admirals allowed the Red Rebels to load the bases with nobody out.
Shortstop Callahan Baker singled to drive in Hamby with the game’s first run before Anna Alloway’s two-run single made the score 3-0.
“We had one bad inning,” coach Moore said. “If we make a couple of plays there, we get out of it with the score 1-0.”
Farragut got its final runner of the game when Delaney Weller drew a free pass. She advanced to second when Slone grounded to third and took third when Arnold uncorked a wild pitch.
Weller was stranded at third when Andrea Sarhatt struck out.
Arnold, who graduates Friday night, attended her final day of classes Tuesday and she said that she didn’t want her high school softball career to come to an end on her last day of school.
“Today was my last day at Maryville High School,” Arnold said. “I cried a lot today but I made it through.
“I told the girls that I didn’t want this to be my last high school game. Every game that we get a chance to play in this tournament is special. This year, it’s really special to me because this is my last year. I told the girls that we needed to go out and play this game like it was our last and they did because It could’ve been.
Red Rebels coach David Allen had high praise for his senior ace.
“She’s really special and sometimes, you take her for granted because she’s so special,” Allen said. “She comes in here and throws a no-hitter against Farragut and they’re one of the best teams around.
“If she does this again, then maybe we’ll have a chance against them.”
