How Stewarts Creek softball pitcher Samya Sandifer has dominated while battling injury

After breaking through as a freshman in 2023 with nine homers and 41 RBIs, Stewarts Creeks' Samya Sandifer has seen her power numbers plummet this year, the product of battling through a back injury all season.

However, she hasn't let it affect her pitching. That was evident in the team's biggest game of the season Monday night.

Sandifer tossed a complete-game four-hitter, working around five walks and striking out seven in a 1-0 win over host Siegel in the Region 4-4A semifinals. The win propelled the Lady Red Hawks to the region finals Wednesday and secured a sectional berth.

"It's been huge," Stewarts Creek coach Jennifer Fernandez said about Sandifer's improvement on the mound. "She's had an injury she's been working through the whole entire season. It's been here and there, just one of those things. We just make sure we're correcting mechanics. When she does, she's on. She threw really well."

Stewarts Creek (26-14) will play Wednesday at Smyrna in the region championship game. Smyrna (20-7) defeated Oakland 5-2 in the other region semifinal.

Sandifer has worked on hitting spots more this season, something that worked to help keep Siegel off balance Monday. She is 11-3 with a 2.58 ERA and 102 strikeouts in 76 innings.

"I'm trying to find places off the plate more," Sandifer said. "It's location. Just trying to work my spots and trusting my teammates. I've improved a lot since last year. I've worked on it as much as I can to help my team."

Sandifer, who is batting .396 with 12 doubles this season, hit her first homer of the year Monday, a towering blast to center in the sixth inning to provide with all the offense she needed.

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Fernandez admits she had to take a deep breath when her team entered the bottom of the seventh with the slim lead.

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Last season the Lady Red Hawks held a 4-2 lead entering the seventh in their region semifinal game but allowed Riverdale to score nine in the inning to take the win, ending Stewarts Creek's season.

"Oh, my goodness, I tried not to even think about it myself," said Fernandez, who had several freshmen on the field that night. "But Samya was looking good. She looked confident. We've grown a lot. We've got really big leadership, even at the younger ages."

Sandifer, who was battling an injury during last year's region game, didn't have an opportunity to help the team in the circle.

"It was just my adrenaline running," Sandifer said. "I've been focusing on not letting pressure overcome me. This is a good feeling. I'm excited to see where we go."

Cecil Joyce covers high school sports and MTSU athletics for The Daily News Journal. Contact him at cjoyce@dnj.com and follow him on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, @Cecil_Joyce.

This article originally appeared on Murfreesboro Daily News Journal: How Stewarts Creek softball pitcher Samya Sandifer has dominated while battling injury