The Farragut Admirals faced Clarksville in the winners’ bracket final of the TSSAA Class 4A state tournament at Starplex on Friday, May 27, 2022, in Murfreesboro, Tennessee. Farragut won 11-0 in five innings. (Photo by Danny Parker)
BY DAVE LINK
MURFREESBORO – Farragut’s softball team isn’t just trying to win a second consecutive state championship.
The Lady Admirals are out to enjoy the experience.
They’re one victory away from the state title after Friday night’s 11-0 victory in five innings over Clarksville in the Class 4A winners-bracket final at the Murfreesboro Sports Complex.
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Farragut (42-3-1) will play the winner of Saturday morning’s Daniel Boone-Clarksville losers-bracket game in the afternoon at 3:30 CT.
The Lady Admirals would have to lose twice not to win the championship.
“It’s pretty amazing, to be honest,” Farragut coach Nick Green said. “Every year is different, and you’ve got to take each year with what you get. Don’t take it for granted. Just because we won it last year doesn’t mean we’ll win it this year. We’re taking every game one at a time. We haven’t really talked about a state title. Our motto is just to win the last game. Only one team gets to win the last game, and that’s our goal.”
Farragut used Thursday’s rainout to scout Clarksville pitchers Emberly Nichols and Charise Nichols.
“We had a rain delay for the coaching staff to get our thoughts together and get as prepared as we could,” Green said. “The kids just played great tonight. They were disciplined at the plate, some really long at-bats, and put the ball in play. She may have had two or three strikeouts. That’s pretty good, and we played pretty good outstanding defense. We had a couple of plays we got caught in the middle a little bit, but overwise, pretty clean defense and it was an outstanding game.”
Green said once Thursday’s game was called off, the Lady Admirals enjoyed the day.
“Once they made that call, everybody just went off and relaxed and had a good time,” Green said. “That’s what it’s about, to have an enjoyable experience.”
Farragut had 13 hits Friday.
Junior shortstop Ava Guzowski went 3 for 3 with four RBI. She hit a grand slam in the second inning as the Lady Admirals took a 7-0 lead.
“It was good to get on the board early, for sure,” Green said. “ We’ve watched some film on her and kind of had an idea of what to expect in terms of what pitches she’s going to throw, what she’s going to try to do to us. Ava Guvowski had a tremendous at-bat and just absolutely crushed that ball for a grand slam.”
Emily Musco went 2 for 4 with two RBI for Farragut, while Hailey Nichols was 2 for 4 with an RBI and Addison Pressley was 2 for 4.
Lauren Brakovec was 1 for 1 with two RBI.
Avery Flatford and Emma MacTavish combined on a four-hitter.
Flatford, a senior and Tennessee Tech signee, went the first four innings and gave up three hits, walked one, and struck out two.
MacTavish, a sophomore, threw the fifth inning and gave up one hit and walked one.
“We want to give Emma some experience too in these moments when we can,” Green said. “Clarksville did a good job. Flatford didn’t have a number of strikeouts tonight. They were putting the bat on the ball. There wasn’t a lot of quality contract, but they were making contact and we had to make some quality plays and that happens when you play good teams.”