Back at
full strength for the first time since their last meeting with
the Titans, the Tigers came into the game confident they could
overtake the Titans and meet the Panther in tomorrow's
finals. They had their chance, in control most of the
way, until a series of small errors piled up on them.
Rutherford Stephens led off for the
Tigers, drawing a walk from Kendra Bryson. Katie
Westmoreland followed with another, and Audrey Hipple was hit with a pitch
to load the bases. Caroline Kilday
singled to the left
side to drive in Rutherford from third, and with one one,
Brittany Leeper walked in another.
Irene Tsinajinnie
did
the same, and the Tigers were on their way, ahead 3-0.
Katie pitched the bottom of the
inning, walking two before getting Bryson to ground back to
her on the mound. A throw in the dirt and on the relay
back to the circle allowed both runs to score, and sent Kendra
all the way to third, an event that foreshadowed the Tigers
eventual demise. Katie dug in to strike out Kaley Moore
before surrendering three walks to score Bryson and tie the
game at three.
Tina Savic singled to open the second
inning, but was retired on a double play on Ashley Favors pop
to short. Kinsey Phillips singled on a swinging bunt,
and Stami Luchette drew a pass to set the table for
Rutherford.
Rutherford lined the ball to left field to
bring Kinsey in from second, but
Katie - a bigger threat of
late to homer than to get out - popped to first to end the
inning.
Rutherford came in in the second to
try to reverse her late season wildness, and gave the Tigers a
performance that left them poised for a shot at the
finals. After a one strike hit batsman and a walk, she
settled down to strike out the next three batters, taking the
Tigers slim one run lead and giving it back to them to extend.
The Tigers did just that - though
possibly too well. Audrey got them started in the
third with a walk, and was sent around to third on Caroline's
second hit of the game. Allyson Williams blasted a
triple down the right field line to drive in both runners, and
Brittany
doubled to nearly the same spot to score
Allyson,
putting the Tigers in command 7-3.
Rutherford came back to see if she
could continue her run against the top of the lineup.
After six balls to start the inning, she threw two strikes -
yielding a costly result. Olivia Morgan hit the first
strike up the middle for a single, but the ball was thrown
over Rutherford at the circle, allowing Morgan to take
second. Bryson hammered the second strike for another
hit, and the Tigers repeated the overthrow to the circle twice
more, each time sailing high, until Bryson had circled the
bases. The three runs were significant, but more costly
was the ease with which they were allowed (combined with the
Tigers' too-quick three in the top of the inning) - the game
was exactly one hour long at this point. One more minute
elapsed would have begun coach-pitched, where the Tigers have
been excelling.
Instead, the girls pitched one
more. Irene took a four pitch walk to start the inning,
but was stranded at third as the next three Tigers went
down. Katie tried to hold onto the 7-6 lead, but
walked the first four batters, three on full counts. She
picked up a pair of strikeouts interspersed with a pair of
walks to finish the inning, the Titans now ahead for the first
time 9-7.
Tigers were still in great shape
coming up to hit against Coach Brad Westmoreland.
Rutherford singled with one out, but
tried to stretch the hit to a double, slamming on the brakes
at the last moment, but well too late to win the race back to
the bag at first. Instead, the Tigers now had two out
with Katie up.
Katie flew deep to right center for a
single that would have likely scored Rutherford, and
Audrey
singled for the Tigers third consecutive hit. With
runners on the corners, still trailing 9-7, Caroline bounded
to the mound and was retired at first to complete the game and
the season.
An outstanding run at the end of the
season came up just short of the finals, the Tigers
victimizing themselves on the field and the basepaths against
a powerful Titans team that made them pay for their mistakes.
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Recent Results
[Post-Season
Tournament brackets]
Monday, May 21
Titans 9, Tigers
7
Tuesday, May 22
Titans 15,
Panthers 7
Wednesday, May 23
Titans 13,
Panthers 12
Tiger of the Game
Absent
for the Tigers 18 run outburst yesterday, Audrey Hipple grabs
today's Tiger of the Game, scoring two runs and picking
up the Tigers third straight hit as they tried to rally in the
final inning.
Next Event
Date: Wednesday, May 23
Time: 5:30 PM
Place: Mellow Mushroom
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