| The Tigers
began their regular season welcoming Stami Luchette
back into the lineup, off crutches just in time, but Irene
Tsinajinnie was not feeling well enough to play.
Facing the 1-0 Panthers, victors in their first game Thursday
night, the Tigers also faced a slight deficit in experience. Rutherford
Stephens started the Tigers off in the first inning with a
one out single, stole second and third, as Katie Westmoreland
and Audrey Hipple
drew walks to load the bases for Allyson
Williams. Allyson
responded with a single to the right side, driving in
two. Ashley Favors
pushed the runners up a base on a comebacker to the
mound, and
Kinsey Phillips
doubled in the third run for the Tigers.
Katie
set out to protect the three run lead, and started well,
catching a popup to the mound following a inning opening
walk. The next five batters each drew a base on balls
though, to tie up the game at three.
Undaunted, the Tigers set out to
regain the lead. Brittany
Leeper singled over the third baseman
to start the second, advancing to third on stolen bases.
Stami suffered a
phantom strikeout - only two legal pitches had been thrown
when she knocked a single over the pitcher's head - but time
had been called and errant scorekeeping claimed Stami
to have been retired on strikes. Caroline Kilday
beat out a squib hit in front of the plate to begin a two out
rally, and Rutherford and
Katie contributed RBI
base hits
through the box. Audrey completed the rally, grounding
down the line and outrunning the play as the first baseman
came in to field the ball.
Katie
returned to the mound for the bottom of the second
inning. After the first two batters reached on walks, Katie
settled down and struck out the next batter. A pair of
walks pushed across a run, then Rutherford
handled a grounder to her left, and she continued on for the
unassisted force at second base. With two outs now, Katie
finished the inning by striking out the Panthers number three
hitter, Kimberley Farris, to hold the 6-5 lead.
Moving to the third inning, the
Tigers looked to up their advantage. Allyson
started things off by slapping a single through the left side,
stealing second and third, and scoring on Ashley's
grounder to first. Kinsey
repeated that scenario, beating out a hit to the right of the
mound, advancing to third on stolen bases, and scored on Brittany's
grounder to first. Tina Savic
wasn't given the chance to exactly duplicate to base hit part;
she was hit on the second pitch, but stole twice to move to
third while Stami
and Caroline
walked to load the bases. Rutherford
grounded to first, but no runs scored given it was the third
out.
Audrey
tried her hand at pitching in the bottom of the inning, and
like most pitchers their first time out, she struggled to find
the strike zone. The Panthers continued to have no
interest in hitting, and they accepted their allotment of
walks to pull even with the Tigers at eight apiece.
The promise of a coach-pitched open
inning fell through, however. Katie
came up to hit off Manager Doug Stephens, only to have his
first pitch sail a foot high - not enough to deter the umpire
from calling it a strike. The second pitch was no
better, and Katie
offered at it out of self-preservation. Settling down,
the next two pitches were hittable, if not ideal, and she
drove one deep to left field, but foul. The fifth and
final pitch (batters are allowed only five coach pitches per
at bat, without regard to their quality) was wide of the plate
and unhittable; Katie
vainly reached out as far as she could to make contact. The
next three hitters received better offerings, and each
grounded to the right side. Allyson
reached safely, but the second baseman came up with the other
two and retired the Tigers without a run. The Panthers
proceeded to pick up a pair of singles in their half of the
fourth to break the tie and take a 9-8 win.
In all, the Tigers out hit the
Panthers 11 to 2. With the Tiger pitchers - especially
ace Katie - quickly improving, opponents will soon be paying
for passive at bats. The Tigers should be emboldened by
this game, despite the result.
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Recent Results
Tuesday, March 20
Sluggers v
Titans postponed
Thursday, March 22
Panthers 17,
Thrashers 9
Saturday, March 24
Thrashers 14,
Sluggers 10
Panthers 9, Tigers 8
Upcoming Games
Monday, March 26
Titans v Tigers
(7:45)
Tuesday, March 27
Sluggers v
Panthers (7:45)
Thursday, March 29
Lucky Shoals v
Sluggers (7:45)
Tiger of the Game
After a couple strikeouts in
the preseason tournament, Kinsey
Phillips responded aggressively in the regular season
opener, smacking an RBI double and a single, stealing two bases
and scoring a run. For her performance and for staying
aggressive, Kinsey win
the Tiger of the Game award.
An honorable mention goes to
Allyson Williams
on
the strength of a 3 for 3 performance (including the only hit
against the toughest pitcher of the day, Manager Doug Stephens!)
Next Game
Date: Monday, March 26
Time: 7:45 PM
Opponent: Titans
Drinks: Hipple
Tiger Tails is the
team newsletter, primarily covering game recaps, but also intended
for disseminating noteworthy events and accomplishments. All
contributions are welcome.
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