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
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 Stephens 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.
|
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
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 Tsinajinne 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:
|