Letdown for the Tigers

April 20, 2011

Hatley High School


      One day after winning their first division title, the Lady Tigers fell to the Lady Hilltoppers of Houston.  One might say that there is no shame in losing to Houston, and s/he would be right.  The Lady Toppers are 20 - 2 and arguably one of the best teams in North Mississippi.  But the way Hatley approached the game was a huge disappointment.
     The Lady Tigers performance can only be categorized as lackadaisical.  That is not to say there weren't a few great individual performances, but the overall effort was passive.
     Tiger pitcher Lesley Hudson struggled to get ahead in the count allowing Houston to set on fastballs which they did to the tune of thirteen hits and seven runs.  The Lady Tigers managed eight hits off of Houston starter Haley Gravat, but stranded runners at third twice and second three times.  Of eleven Lady Tigers to visit the plate, the eight hits were by only three players.  Junior Lauren Sloan and sophomore Courtney Roberts had three hits each while junior Mallory Ashcraft had two.  Junior Katie Duling had two RBI's.  The Tigers will open the playoff on April 29 against the two-seed from Region 4-2A.