Lady Tigers remain unbeaten in conference action

The Mountain Home Lady Tigers stayed unbeaten in SIC 4A conference softball last week with wins over Kuna and Columbia.

Saturday the Lady Tigers swept a non-conference doubleheader from Minico at home.

Mtn. Home 10

Kuna 0

(6 innings)

In a rematch of the 2008 State 4A Championship game, the Mountain Home Lady Tigers prevailed, beating the visiting Lady Kavemen 10-0 at Memmelaar Field in Mountain Home last Tuesday.

The two teams met a total of six times, including three times at state, with each team winning three, though two of Kuna's three wins came at state, including in the championship game.

Mountain Home scored twice in the second inning and added three more in the third, single runs in the fourth and fifth, and ended the game by the 10-run rule with three runs in the sixth inning.

A soft pop-up by Ashlea Doughty just beyond the glove of Lady Tiger shortstop Madison Siefferman in the first inning was the only hit Kuna managed off Lady Tiger junior pitcher Nickayla Skinner, who struck out 13 batters.

Nickayla Skinner and Kelsie Hopkins both had two hits and an RBI. Hopkins had a triple. Lindsey Sessions had an RBI double, Blas Lord and Arlene Futch had RBI singles, Jennica Quintal and Madison Siefferman also had hits, and Ashley Christiansen had a couple RBIs.

Mtn. Home 13

Columbia 3

The Lady Tigers jumped out to an 11-0 lead after two innings on their way to a 13-3 five inning win over Columbia Thursday afternoon at Columbia.

Mountain Home pounded out 13 hits in the win, getting a home run from Nickayla Skinner, who struck out nine and gave up just one earned run to improve to 4-1 on the season. Kelsie Hopkins, Mandy Siefferman and Charde Huntington also had two hits, Hopkins had a triple and RBI, Jennica Quintal and Ashley Christiansen both had hits and two RBIs. Christiansen's hit was a double, Arlene Futch, Megan Kelly and Lindsey Sessions also had hits. Sessions had an RBI.

"We jumped on them early, and then I felt we kind of laid back and let them play a couple of innings," said Mountain Home coach Chris Asbury in radio comments after the game.

"It's early in the season. We've got to get that killer instinct and go for them, but it's tough to be disappointed in a 13-3 win. It was a great job for the girls."

Mtn. Home 12, 15

Minico 2, 1

The Lady Tigers made it four wins for the week with a doubleheader sweep of Minico Saturday at Memmelaar Field in Eastside Park in Mountain Home.

In the first game, after Minico scored an unearned run in the top of the second to go up 1-0, Mountain Home took advantage of a hit batter, a walk, an error and two base hits to score three runs.

They added another run in the third, three more in the fourth, and ended the game with five runs in the fifth to win 12-2.

Nickayla Skinner improved to 5-1 on the season with the win, giving up just one earned run and three hits while striking out 11 batters. She helped herself out at the plate with two hits and three RBIs.

Arlene Futch and Kelsie Hopkins also had two hits, Futch had two RBIs, Hopkins had a double and one RBI. Also getting hits were Jennica Quintal, Charde Huntington, Megan Kelly, Blas Lord and Madison Siefferman, with Huntington, Kelly and Siefferman all knocking in runs.

In the second game, Mountain Home scored five runs in the first inning -- three of them coming on a home run by Nickayla Skinner -- three more in the second, and seven more -- including a grand slam by Skinner -- in the fourth, as they won 15-1 in five innings.

Nickayla Skinner had two homers, a double and nine RBIs for the game, which gave her 12 RBIs for the day. Arlene Futch and Charde Huntington both had two hits and an RBI, Megan Kelly had a double, Courtney Christiansen had a single and an RBI, and Lindsey Session also had a hit. Blas Lord picked up the win to improve to 1-1 on the season. She struck out five, walked two, gave up two hits and one unearned run.

Coach Asbury was happy with the sweep of the Lady Spartans from Minico.

"The first game, we gave Nick (Skinner) some runs to work with, and you know she's going to be dominant as usual. Game two, Blas (Lord) did a heck of a job in there, her first varsity win.

"I'm very proud of her. She's come a long way in a short amount of time. If we have two pitchers pitching this well going into the tournament, I think we're going to be pretty tough to beat."

The Lady Tigers, who improved to 6-2 on the season with the sweep, head to the Idaho Sporting Goods Softball Tournament this Friday and Saturday. They face Bonneville and Idaho Falls on Friday and Rocky Mountain and Centennial on Saturday.