Putting a
slow regular season finish behind them, the Tigers entered the
post-season tournament looking prepared to make a run.
Good pitching, steady fielding, and resurgent batting were
combined to keep the game against the second place Titans in
question to the end.
Facing Kendra Bryson, the Tigers put
aside their previous intimidation and dug in. Rutherford
Stephens walked to begin the inning, and Katie Westmoreland was hit by
a pitch. Audrey Hipple loaded the bases on a pass, and
Caroline Kilday put the Tigers on the board with
another. Brittany Leeper followed suit, taking another
base on balls to score the Tigers second run, and Irene
Tsinajinnie put the Tigers ahead 3-0 with the fifth walk of
the inning.
Rutherford started the game
for the Tigers, and got them going against the top of the
Titans lineup. She went to a 2-2 count on Shelby Flowe
before losing her on a walk, then struck out Olivia
Morgan. Bryson walked, and Rutherford faced cleanup
hitter Kaley Moore. After falling behind in the count,
Rutherford came back to strike her out for the second out of
the inning. A full count to Shelby Reed put the Tigers
on the verge of closing the inning without giving up a run,
but ball four loaded the bases. Three more walks
followed; the lost opportunity gave the Titans a 3-3 tie.
The Tigers responded, loading the
bases on three walks to Ashley
Favors, Kinsey
Phillips, and
Stami Luchette, Stami standing in against Morgan to foul off
the only strike she received. Rutherford singled in
Ashley for the Tigers, tying the game and bringing Katie
up. A pop foul to first retired Katie, but
Kinsey at
third tagged up and raced for home ahead of the throw. A
young umpire crew initially assumed Kinsey had erred, and
hadn't tagged up, calling her out for the third out to end the
inning, then called out Stami when the Titans ran her back to
second. Focused on the call at the plate, Manager Doug
Stephens prevailed in correcting Kinsey's run, but didn't
recognize in time that Stami should have been returned to
second without penalty, since at the time she was called out,
the inning was presumed over. With the hot-hitting
Audrey up next, that may have been costly in this
contest. Still, the Tigers now held a 5-3 lead.
Katie capitalized on the lead as she
took to the mound in the second inning. She got off to a
shaky start, walking the first batter and hitting the second,
but quickly settled down to strike out the next two batters,
bringing Flowe up at the top of the lineup. Flowe drew a
walk, as did Morgan to bring the Titans within one, 5-4, with
Bryson coming to the plate. On a one strike pitch,
Bryson hit a short popup in front of third base, where Ashley
stepped up to make the grab of the quickly sinking ball.
The Tigers went quietly in the third,
stranding Caroline at third after her one out single,
entrusting Katie with the slim lead.
Katie, walking two
and striking out two to begin the third inning. Flirting
with containing the Titans, she got ahead of the next two
batters - a 2-2 count before hitting the next batter with ball
four, and with the bases loaded a 1 ball, two strike count on
the following before walking her and tying the game at
five. One more walk gave the Titans their first lead
before Katie closed the door with her fifth strikeout.
With the three run limit lifted for
the fourth inning, the Tigers needed a single run to
continue the game, but almost certainly more to have a chance
to win. Irene hit a ball to the left side for what
looked like a leadoff single until Bryson scampered in and
fired to first ahead of a sprinting Irene. A strikeout
and a bouncer to the pitcher finished the inning and the game,
giving the Titans the first round win, and sending the Tigers
to the losers bracket to face the Sluggers on Saturday.
In all, the Tigers played their best
game in weeks, coming very close to upsetting the Titans for
the second time this season. A strike on any one of
three strategically timed pitches in the first would have left
the Titans scoreless in that inning; and one of five in
the third would have done the same. Two pitches away
from a 5-1 lead going into the bottom of the fourth...
Scenarios aside, the Tigers must hit in the open innings to
win, where they have scored but a single run in the past five
games.
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Recent Results
Tuesday, May 15
Titans 10,
Thrashers 9
End of
regular season
Wednesday, May 16
Thrashers 9
Sluggers 6
Thursday, May 17
Titans 6, Tigers
5
Upcoming Games
[Post-Season
Tournament brackets]
Friday, May 18
Panthers v
Thrashers (8:00)
Saturday, May 19
Tigers v
Sluggers (1:30)
Winner bracket final - Panthers/Thrashers winner v Titans
(4:30)
Panthers/Thrashers loser v Tigers/Sluggers winner (7:30)
Sunday, May 20
Loser bracket
finals (3:30)
Championship game (6:30)
Tiger of the Game
Needing
a run in the fourth, Irene
Tsinajinnie gave the Tigers a chance
to start the inning right with a grounder to the left
side. Although she was retired on a good play, Irene
continued to give her best effort to try to make the right
play - the prerequisite for success. Her first inning
walk drove in yet another run, closing in on Katie for the
team lead in RBI.
Next Game
Date: Saturday, May 19
Time: 1:30 PM
Opponent: Sluggers
Drinks:
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