farragutpress

Waterlogged

Lady Ads see bitter end at state

May 27, 2026 by Jake Nichols

MURFREESBORO — After going winless at the 2025 Class 4A state softball tournament, the Farragut Lady Admirals arrived in middle Tennessee with redemption on their minds this year.

Instead, they experienced the familiar sting of another 0-2 stint and had to endure a rain delay to get there.

Tuesday, May 19, brought a 5-3 loss to Stewarts Creek — the same team that knocked Farragut out last year — in their opener at McKnight Park. Then on Wednesday, May 20, the Lady Ads were one of just a few teams to get in a game after rain and lightning muddied fields for almost five hours.

When it finally subsided, FHS took the field but lost 4-3 to Lincoln County in an elimination battle at the Murfreesboro Starplex to close their 2026 campaign.

“We ended where we wanted it to be. Just didn’t end how we wanted it to,” head coach Nick Green lamented. “All the things we did really great this year, unfortunately we did not do the past two days. And when you’re playing good teams, that’s the difference in how you win.”

In both games, Farragut grabbed momentum with early leads — 1-0 over Stewarts Creek on Tuesday and 3-0 over Lincoln County the following day.

Those evaporated as 11 Lady Admiral runners were left stranded through their two-day stay. They also gave up a combined nine runs through the final five innings of both games.

But even after giving up each advantage, FHS put the tying run on base or at the plate in the final inning — yet proved unable to cash in on the momentum.

“We competed, we never gave up and showed some grit and fight,” Green said. “In both games, we were in a situation to tie it or take the lead, and that’s all you can hope for. Just unfortunately didn’t come through with big hits at the big moments.”

“It was a tough draw, but in both games, if we play at the level we’ve shown we can play at, we win both those games,” he added. “And that’s the part that hurts the most — we could have, should have beaten both of those teams. What we take pride in, the ability to throw and catch and play defense, we did not do it. And that’s what cost us two games.”

Against Stewarts Creek, Camryn Shrader injected some early momentum when she stole second base on a wild pitch, took third and scored on a catching error for a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first.

Undeterred, the Red Hawks responded with five straight runs to flip the game on its head. Farragut got one back in the sixth and one more in the seventh but ultimately came up short to slide into the loser’s bracket.

The following day, Hallie Grace Johnson brought a similar start with a three-run homer in the bottom of the first against Lincoln County.

But the Lady Falcons responded as steadily as Stewarts Creek, stacking one run in the third, two more in the fourth and another in the sixth to take a lead they would not relinquish. They did, however, leave the bases juiced in two different innings to leave the door open for the Lady Ads.

Defensively, Farragut rotated through three pitchers in four different switches.

Johnson got the start, then Raleigh Mizer entered in relief for 2.1 innings. Hudson Bradford followed, then Johnson re-entered in the top of the seventh to try and close it out.

Johnson had help from her defense, tossing a grounder to Camryn Shrader, who fired from second to a waiting Callie Brown to turn a double play.

A strikeout sent FHS to the plate with a chance to tie or walk it off, and Brown hit a leadoff single before Camden Houston entered to pinch-run.

She stole second on the next pitch to give Farragut a golden opportunity. But a strikeout and a pop-out ended the threat, teeing up a Lincoln County celebration as FHS players walked off the field.

Afterward, Green made sure to note the “maturity and leadership” of seniors Alexa Shrader and Bridget Kovacs, adding he is “proud to know them.”

But for next year’s team, he wants this sting to remain through the offseason.

“Will that feeling drive you to be better next year and not be satisfied? I know it will drive me,” he said. “I’ll spend a lot of time thinking about what I could have done better to prepare them in practice.

It will eat at me until March and, essentially, until we get back here and have a better performance.

“We could have beaten both of these teams. I would not say they are better than us. We lost both games, and that makes it harder.”