Avery Flatford already has pitched Farragut softball to a TSSAA title. Why a repeat looks imminent

MURFREESBORO — Remaining calm under pressure is how Avery Flatford tends to operate when she's at the TSSAA state softball tournament.

Last season the Tennessee Tech signee led Farragut to its first state championship since 1982, winning all four of her starts.

Almost like she was pitching a home game, Flatford picked up where she left off in this year's state tournament, recording 28 strikeouts between Farragut's two wins over Stewarts Creek and Springfield.

Farragut (41-3-1) will play Clarksville Thursday at 5:30 p.m. in the Class 4A semifinals.

"We were here last year and had a lot of success, so we feel really comfortable as a team playing here," Flatford said. "I think that comfortability has really shown late in the game against Stewarts Creek and obviously today against Springfield."

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Farragut coach Nick Green knows how much of a luxury it is having an experienced pitcher like Flatford.

Flatford began the tournament striking out 16 in a 3-0 win over Stewarts Creek and followed that up with 12 strikeouts in an 11-2 win over Springfield.

"I think a lot of her success comes from having to deal with cystic fibrosis all of her life so nothing has ever really come easy for her," Green said. "Being able to deal with that on an everyday basis makes something like this not that big of a deal in the grand scheme of things. She's just so good too and spins the ball amazingly."

Flatford would be the first to admit that she didn't throw her best game against Springfield despite the 12 strikeouts.

In the fourth inning, she got out of a jam by striking out a Springfield batter with runners on the corners. The Lady Jackets continued to produce hits off of her in the fifth inning and were able to load the bases with one out and the game tied at one.

Instead of letting that get to her, Flatford and the Lady Admirals were able to escape the inning as a Springfield runner was caught trying steal home on a sacrifice and another runner was caught out on the same play trying to steal third.

The Lady Jackets finally started producing some hits and were able to load the bases in the fifth inning with the game tied at one.

Farragut's bats gave Flatford some breathing room in the sixth inning as Autumn Caywood hit a three-run home run sparking an eight-run inning for the Lady Admirals.

"That double play really changed the tempo of the game for us," Flatford said. "That got the tempo going, which we really needed. After that we finally go our bats going and there was no stopping us."

Reach Joe Spears at jspears2@gannett.com or 731-343-4923. Follow him on Instagram and Twitter @joe_spears7.

This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: TSSAA softball: Repeat looks imminent for Avery Flatford, Farragut