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 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
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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