Lady Tigers win conference with win over Emmett

The Mountain Home Lady Tigers closed out their regular season softball schedule with wins over Emmett and Middleton to win the SIC 4A conference title and earn the number one seed heading into this week's District III 4A Softball Tournament.

Mtn. Home 4

Emmett 1

Mountain Home hosted Emmett last Tuesday with first place on the line, as both came into the game 11-1 in conference play. The Lady Tigers took advantage of some Emmett errors to beat the lady Huskies, 4-1.

Nickayla Skinner scattered five hits and struck out 16 to get the win.

She also had two hits including a double. Breann Christiansen had a hit and RBI, and Arlene Futch, Ashley Christiansen and Blas Lord also had hits.

Lady Tiger softball coach Chris Asbury was pleased with the way his Lady Tigers came through in the big game.

"We took advantage of some Emmett mistakes, put the ball in play, and did a great job of base running tonight, and we look forward to district play on Monday."

Mtn. Home 7

Middleton 0

The Lady Tigers closed out their regular season schedule at home last Thursday celebrating Senior Night with a 7-0 win over Middleton.

Nickayla Skinner smacked a towering shot to left center that easily cleared the fence and landed near the soccer field in the first inning with two aboard TO give the Lady Tigers a 3-0 lead. Skinner limited the Lady Vikings to just three hits and struck out 17 in the shutout win, which improved her to 16-2 on the season. Tawni Downen and Charde Huntington, both had two hits, including doubles. Downen had an RBI.

Arlene Futch, Krista Gillaspy, Ashley Christiansen and Liz Griffeath all had hits, Christiansen had an RBI.

"Last one of the year, it's good to come out on top," said Coach Asbury after the game. "We came out firing in the first and second and got a nice lead and cruised on in!"

Coach Asbury honored the three Mountain Home seniors playing their last game before the home fans prior to the game. The three, Krista Gillaspy, Tawni Downen and Liz Griffeath all got hits in the game.

The Lady Tigers captured the conference crown with a 13-1 record, and took an 18-2 overall mark into the district tourney, which opened Monday at Bishop Kelly. The Lady Tigers opened against Nampa. The district tourney championship game is set for Thursday.