The Tigers
sought to make a final run at moving up a spot in the
standings, held with the Panthers early, then allowed the game
to get away from them.
Beginning a string of four home games
to finish the season, the Tigers took the field to open the
first. Katie Westmoreland faced a passive Panthers
lineup. Kelsie Royal watched five pitches for a full
count before walking, and Tiffany Ketcherside took six more
for a strikeout. Kimberly Ferris in the third spot fell
behind 0-2 before swinging for a third strike. The
Panthers failures waiting for walks did not deter them,
though. The next three batters refused to swing, and
were rewarded with base on balls, pushing in a run. Katie came back with strikes to the final batter of the inning
to record her third strikeout, even forcing the Panthers to
swing a second time in the inning!
The Tigers took the opposite
approach, taking just two pitches while putting three balls
into play. A two-out single by Katie kept the inning
going, but Rutherford Stephens hit the first pitch to short
for the third out.
Rutherford went to the mound to keep
the Tigers close, but was wild in walking the first three
batters. A baserunning miscue by the Panthers ended the
inning...but didn't. With the runner on first running
with nowhere to go on a pitch to the backstop, Rutherford got
the ball back and an threw to first to get the runner coming
back. Unfortunately, the throw sailed over Katie's
outstretched glove at first, causing the Panthers coaches to
erroneously send all the baserunners - no one was permitted to
advance since the runner at third cannot take home. Rutherford spent the next twenty seconds running around the
infield, tagging the Panthers that should have been at first
and second. While searching for the Panther that had
"scored" from third, now in the dugout, the umpire
prematurely called time, ostensibly to restore order to what
had been a wild play. What should have been an
inning-ending triple play was overturned by decree, the umpire
returning all baserunners to their bases without
penalty. In the aftermath, Rutherford struck out the
batter, but walked a trio to score the three baserunners
restored by the umpire's decision.
Again, the Tigers tried to hit their
way back into the game, with little effect. They were
retired 1-2-3, still unable to get a batted ball out of the
infield.
Katie came back to pitch the third,
the Panthers swinging exactly once in their seven at
bats. Narrowly missing on a multitude of pitches, Katie
picked up one strikeout amidst six walks, the Tigers now
behind 7-0.
Tina
Savic started the Tigers off in the
third, picking up a base on balls; Stami Luchette did the same
while Tina advanced to third on steals.
Ashley Favors
walked the bases full. In stark contrast to the
Panthers, the Tigers had picked up three walks, but had swung
at every strike in the process. Caroline
Kilday singled to the
right side, driving in the first Tiger run, and Katie drilled
the first strike to left field, nearly scoring both runners -
Ashley held at third as the Panthers got the ball in
quickly. Rutherford finished the inning with a single up
the middle after falling behind 0-2 on a pair of foul tips.
A 7-3 deficit now faced the Tigers as
the Panthers came up in the open fourth inning. Three
opportunities went awry, instead going for three infield hits
to begin the inning. Ferris followed with a legitimate
hit, but the Tigers still threw the ball around long enough
for the double to go for a home run. Another misplay
produced yet another infield hit before the Tigers finally
converted. Caroline took a comebacker to the mound,
throwing over to Katie to produce the first out, then a clean
single to right was turned into the second when Brittany
Leeper came
up with the ball and threw the runner out trying stretch out a
double. A strikeout ended the inning, but the Tigers now
trailed 12-3.
The Tigers last-ditch effort began
with promise, but was not sustained. Audrey Hipple hit
the ball up the middle for a hit, negated when the bat sailed
out of her hand on the backswing. Brittany
started the Tigers again with a single over the third-baseman,
and Irene Tsinajinnie put the ball into play for the second
time in this game, advancing Brittany to second. With
two outs, Tina singled to the left side, her second hit of the
season. Neither runner could advance further, as the
final out was recorded; 12-3 remained the score.
The win-lose pattern of the Tigers
season held firm in their ninth game, their record now
standing at 4-5. The next game provides a difficult test
to that pattern: a rematch with the same Panthers. A win
would make the Tigers the only team to date to beat all four
competitors, while a loss would give the Panthers a sweep of
the three meetings.
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Recent Results
Thursday, May 3
Thrashers 10,
Lucky Shoals 9
Friday, May 4
Panthers 12, Tigers
3
Upcoming Games
Saturday, May 5
Panthers v Thrashers
(2:45)
Sluggers v Titans (4:30)
Monday, May 7
Panthers v Tigers (7:45)
Tiger of the Game
A
walk to begin the Tigers only productive inning, and a single
to sustain their hopes in the final inning earns Tina Savic Tiger
of the Game for tonight's contest.
Next Game
Date: Monday, May 7
Time: 7:45 PM
Opponent: Panthers
Drinks: Williams
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