| Even at this
early point of the season, it has been apparent that the
Tigers could out hit the competition. As soon as the
pitching progressed enough to force the bat off their
opponent's shoulders, the Tigers would be very tough to beat.
Less clear was when that might occur. This
evening, the Tigers forewent steady improvement, and instead
leapt forward.
The Tigers took the field, Katie
Westmoreland on the
mound, with their entire eleven girl
squad healthy for the game, a first for the season. A
leadoff walk to Shelby Flowe set up a run for the Titans, as Rutherford
Stephens prematurely backed up a steal of third while
Olivia Morgan slapped a sharp grounder through Rutherford's
vacated position. Flowe scored, and Morgan ended up at
third, and Katie
went to work. She struck out the next batter, hit the
next, then another strikeout and a walk loaded the bases with
two outs. After falling behind 2-0, Katie
threw three straight called strikes to get out of the inning
with just one run scored.
The Tigers wasted no time claiming
the lead, with Caroline
Kilday drawing a walk, and Rutherford
doubling her in, scoring herself on Katie's
infield single to the shortstop. The Titans pitcher,
Kendra Bryson, then hit both Audrey
Hipple and Allyson
Williams to load the bases, but that seemed to leave the
Tigers a bit tentative standing in the batters box against
Bryson. A pair of strikeouts put the Titans on the verge
of closing out the inning, but Irene
Tsinajinnie drew a bases loaded walk to push across the
Tigers third run.
Katie
took a couple batters to get back into her groove, but then
struck out three straight to complete her two innings of work.
Her line for the game was quite impressive: Two innings, one
run allowed, and six strikeouts!
This gave the Tigers a chance to pull
way ahead, but they could only manage two baserunners. Stami
Luchette picked up a two out walk, and Caroline
became Bryson's third hit batter. Without benefit of a
hit, the Tigers had to settle for holding on to the 3-1 lead.
Rutherford
came in to pitch the third for the Tigers, and again the
Titans put the first two on while Rutherford
searched for the strike zone. She found it, with
consecutive strikes after ten straight balls, but the Titans
hit both, for a single and a double, knocking three home and
taking a 4-3 lead.
Morgan pitched the bottom of the
inning, walking Katie
and Audrey before
getting a force at third and a strikeout. Kinsey
Phillips fought back from the verge of an inning-ending
strikeout, drawing four balls after falling behind 0-2,
loading the bases. Irene
and Tina Savic each
picked up an RBI on bases loaded walks, bookending an RBI
single by Brittany
Leeper, pushing the Tigers ahead 6-4 with the open inning
coming up.
Rutherford
snagged a bullet to her left for the first out before a pair
of singles cut the the Tiger's lead in half. But Caroline
on the mound handled a comebacker for the second out, and Kinsey
scooped up a grounder to second to retire the
side, a 6-5 lead
intact.
The one run lead became precarious
when the first two batters bounced back to Morgan on the
mound. Time had not expired, and the Titans were poised
to send the top of their lineup to the plate should another
inning be started. Rutherford
came up with two outs; she sent the first pitch over the left
fielder and to the fence for a double, starting a string of
five hits. Katie
hit a ball over the pitcher to put runners on second and
third, and Audrey
grounded to the left side, past the mound, driving in both Rutherford
and Katie.
Allyson connected
after two misses, to the left of the mound again, to put two
on base for Ashley
Favors. Ashley
hit sharply down the first base line, into right field, easily
driving in Audrey
from second and Allyson
all the way from first, doubling up the Titans 10-5.
Time expired during the rally, giving the Tigers their first
win.
Now with a 1-1 record, the Tigers
move into a tie for second place with their next opponent, the
Thrashers. The Tigers now enter a two week layoff for
spring break, and should be ready to come back with renewed
confidence.
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Recent Results
Tuesday, March 26
Tigers 10,
Titans 5
Saturday, March 24
Thrashers 14,
Sluggers 10
Panthers 9, Tigers 8
Upcoming Games
Tuesday, March 27
Sluggers v
Panthers (7:45)
Thursday, March 29
Lucky Shoals v
Sluggers (7:45)
Tiger of the Game
As if two hits, a walk, an
RBI, and a two runs scored weren't enough, Katie
Westmoreland pitched two innings of one-run ball, striking out
six batters! While the Tigers put forth a great team effort
to win the game, Katie
runs away with tonight's Tiger of the Game.
Next Game
Date: Tuesday, April 10
Time: 7:45 PM
Opponent: Thrashers
Drinks: Kilday
Upcoming Events
On April 9th, the day before
the Tigers next game, Allyson
Williams will be celebrating her 11th birthday. Happy
birthday, Allyson!
(This doesn't excuse you from practice.)
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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