Lady Tigers stumble, drop three

It was a rough week for the Mountain Home Lady Tiger softball team last week as they dropped games to Vallivue, Emmett and Wood River.

Vallivue 8

Mountain Home 3

The Lady Tigers had a rude awakening last Tuesday at Vallivue when they played the Lady Falcons in conference softball -- one must know where the base runner is at all times. The Lady Falcons were not afraid to steal a base, and in some cases made it two on the same play. Vallivue went on to win, 8-3.

A sacrifice fly by Ali Hillman gave the Lady Tigers a 1-0 lead in the top of the first, but Vallivue took advantage of two hits and a walk to score two runs in the bottom of the inning. They added another in the second, three more in the third and two more in the fourth to build up an 8-1 lead.

Sammy Dodge doubled in two runs in the top of the seventh as Mountain Home got back within five, but could come no closer, losing 8-3.

"We started off kind of hot and then things got kind of cold hitting-wise," said Mountain Home Lady Tiger softball coach Joy Memmelaar in radio comments after the game. "We didn't have our 'A' defense today. We made some errors that kind of costly, and hey, that's the way it goes some days. You've got to come to play.

"They took a few extra bases on us three different times, and we didn't learn the first time. We talked about that and tried to get them to be a little more aware of it, but now I think they're totally aware of it."

The Lady Tigers had just four hits in the game. Sammy Dodge had a two-run double, and Ashley Kipp, Brei Draper and Sheena Nelsen had singles. Ali Hillman had an RBI.

Hillman suffered the loss despite striking out 10 batters. She gave up seven hits, and just four of the eight runs were earned.

Emmett 4

Mountain Home 0

Ali Hillman and Emmett's Jodie Zillner were involved in a pitching duel Thursday at Emmett. Hillman struck out 10 batters for the second straight game, but her Lady Tigers were unable to score any runs as they came up short, 4-0.

Emmett took advantage of a couple walks by Hillman to score a run on an infield hit in the second inning.

Mountain Home had their first base runner in the fourth when Kim Hamilton reached on an error. She made it to third base before the inning ended, leaving her there.

In the fifth inning the Lady Tigers loaded the bases with two outs, but again, failed to score. Then in the bottom of the inning, the Lady Huskies were able to score three more runs.

"We had some opportunities (to score) and just didn't take advantage of them," said Coach Memmelaar. "We had runners on in several different innings, we just didn't get them across the plate. That makes all the difference in the world in a close game like that."

Sheena Nelson had two hits for the Lady Tigers. Carmen Santy and Breann Christiansen also had hits. Ali Hillman scattered four hits while striking out 10 and walking four. The loss dropped her to 6-5 on the season.

Wood River 13

Mountain Home 5

Wood River built up a 9-0 lead on the Lady Tigers Saturday at Mountain Home as they took a 13-5 non-conference game from the Lady Tigers.

Three errors by Mountain Home in the first inning led to three unearned Wood River runs. Jamie Stoner had two home runs and four RBIs to lead the Lady Wolverines.

Mountain Home finally scored three runs in the sixth inning, and scored two more in the seventh to make it a 13-5 final.

"We hit well and left runners on and made some base running error, all things that are a little bit costly, and then you add the hard-hit 'right at 'ems' and it does add up. It was just one of those days," said Coach Memmelaar.

Sammy Dodge had three hits and an RBI to lead the Lady Tigers at the plate. Brei Draper had two hits including a double, Ali Hillman had a double and Kim Hamilton also had a hit. Breann Christiansen suffered the loss, her first of the season in three decisions. She struck out five and walked two and gave up 15 hits.

The Lady Tigers took an 8-6 overall record and 3-3 conference mark into this week where they have three conference games.

They hosted Kuna yesterday (Tuesday), travel to Caldwell tomorrow (Thursday) and host Nampa on Friday.

"We're going to have to pull it together or it will be a long week," said Coach Memmelaar. "Hopefully they can do that. We're still struggling a little bit with base running and out hitting our 'right at 'ems.' If we can move the ball a little bit we should be all right."