Lady Tigers improve to 8-0 in conference play

The Mountain Home Lady Tigers improved to 8-0 in conference play last week with home wins over Emmett and Middleton.

Mtn. Home 4

Emmett 0

Mountain Home got some clutch hitting in the sixth inning to score four runs to down Emmett, 4-0, in conference softball last Tuesday at Memmelaar Field in Mountain Home.

Mountain Home's Nickayla Skinner and Emmett's McKenna Mattingly had a great pitching duel going, with no team scoring, or even getting a hit until Mountain Home scored their four runs in the sixth inning.

Mountain Home had base runners in the first, third, fourth and fifth, but were shut out by Mattingly until the sixth, when Kelsie Hopkins led off the inning and was hit by a pitch. Nickayla Skinner then walked, and Charde Huntington singled to score Hopkins for the Lady Tigers first hit and run.

Ashley Christiansen also came through with a base hit to score Courtney Christiansen, who was the courtesy runner for Skinner. Huntington scored from third base on a passed ball, and Lindsey Sessions plated Ashley Christiansen on a ground-out.

Emmett managed to break up Nickayla Skinner's no-hitter in the seventh inning, getting three straight hits with one out to load the bases, but Skinner struck out the final two batters to end the ball game.

"I was very proud of the girls tonight," said Mountain Home Lady Tiger softball coach Chris Asbury after the game. "That was probably our best performance of the season, maybe not at the plate so much, but that's the best pitcher we'll face all year.

"We had some opportunities early, but took advantage of some walks and came through with some timely hitting. I'm extremely proud of the girls, they showed some toughness tonight."

Besides Charde Huntington and Ashley Christiansen's RBI singles, Blas Lord also had a hit. Nickayla Skinner struck out 18 batters in improving to 10-1 on the season.

Mtn. Home 12

Middleton 1

(5 innings)

An 11-run third inning helped the Lady Tigers to a 12-1 five-inning win over Middleton Thursday at Memmelaar Field in Mountain Home.

Nickayla Skinner improved to 11-1 on the season, giving up just one hit, while striking out nine and walking two. She helped her cause with two hits, including a two-run home run. Lindsey Sessions, Arlene Futch and Jennica Quintal each had two hits, Futch had an RBI and a double, Sessions had a double and Quintal had an RBI. Charde Huntington had a double and three RBIs, and Kelsie Hopkins and Madison Siefferman both had hits, Siefferman had an RBI.

Coach Asbury was pleased with the effort by his Lady Tigers against Middleton.

"It was very nice. We were kind of lackluster in the first couple of innings, but we took advantage of some defensive mistakes and put it out of reach in the third."

The win improved the Lady Tigers to 8-0 in conference and 12-4 overall. Mountain Home was in Nampa to face the Lady Bulldogs Tuesday, and go to Kuna Thursday. They are home against Kimberly in a non-conference doubleheader on Saturday, starting at 11 a.m.