Lady Tigers drop 2 before series split with Lady Huskies

The Mountain Home Lady Tigers won the second game of a non-conference softball doubleheader with Canyon Ridge Saturday to gain a split with the Lady River Hawks.

Earlier in the week, the Lady Tigers dropped conference games to Middleton and Emmett.

Middleton 13, Mountain Home 3

(6 innings)

The Lady Tigers opened their 2014 softball season with a 13-3 six-inning loss to Middleton at Memmelaar Field in Mountain Home.

Mountain Home spotted the Lady Vikings five runs before scoring two of their own in the bottom of the third on back-to-back singles by Taylor Reed and Heather Adams.

Mountain Home's third run came in the fourth, after Middleton had scored four in the top half of the inning.

Middleton added another run in the fifth and made it a 10-run game with two more in the sixth.

For their first effort of the season, Mountain Home Lady Tiger softball coach Ron Nicolosi noted that "we made some mistakes, and we definitely have got some things to work on, but their pitcher wasn't overpowering. I think what we did is we got lazy at the plate.... Maybe it was first game jitters -- I don't know -- but we were a little disappointed with our performance at the plate.

"Defensively, we made some good plays, we did some good things. Our pitchers gave up a few too many walks, also, and when you do that and you get that big hit, that obviously can hurt, but... we'll look at the positives and grow on them."

The Lady Tigers had just five hits off two Middleton pitchers. Taylor Reed had two hits and an RBI. Heather Adams had an RBI-single, and Maeghan Pomerantz and Ashton Harrigan also had hits.

Heather Adams and McKenna Lewis both pitched three innings, Adams, who struck out five and walked five, suffered the loss. Lewis had three strikeouts and walked two Middleton batters.

Emmett 10, Mountain Home 0

(6 innings)

Emmett plated three runs with no outs in the bottom of the sixth inning to down the Lady Tigers 10-0 in conference softball at Emmett Friday.

The Lady Huskies scored three runs in the first, two in both the third and fourth, and ended the game by the 10-0-run rule with their three in the sixth.

Mountain Home managed just three hits, two of them in the sixth, but failed to score a run.

"I was really disappointed in our approach at the plate," said Coach Nicolosi after the game. "We got ahead in the count a lot of times and didn't take advantage... and mentally, I think we weren't here, either."

Taylor Reed, Heather Adams and Maeghan Pomerantz collected hits for Mountain Home.

Heather Adams and McKenna Lewis shared the pitching duties. Adams, who has been battling a leg injury, suffered the loss.

Mtn. Home 4, Canyon Ridge 10

Mtn. Home 12, Canyon Ridge 7

The Lady Tigers, who had scored just six runs total in their first three games, doubled that with 12 in the second game against Canyon Ridge Saturday to earn a split of their doubleheader with the Riverhawks.

Canyon Ridge jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the first game and led all the way in the 10-4 win.

"I'm very disappointed in our effort at the plate," said Coach Nicolosi after the game. "We left 12 runners on base and nine were in scoring position. We had too many strikeouts looking during key situations."

The Lady Tigers had six hits in the first game. Taylor Reed had a double and RBI, Heather Adams had a hit and RBI, and Morgan Vivier, Madi Karst, McKenna Lewis and Kendra Castillo also had hits. Teresa Fredell had an RBI.

McKenna Lewis pitched five innings, giving up six earned runs and six hits, striking out two. She suffered the loss.

Canyon Ridge jumped out to a 4-1 lead after one in the second game, but a five-run second inning gave Mountain Home the lead for good as the Lady Tigers went on to a 12-7 win.

"We had a great effort to shake off the first game loss and focus on a new game," said Coach Nicolosi.

"Offensively, the girls had a much better approach in key situations and were more aggressive than in game one. We also saw Angie (Shockey) and Kendra (Castillo) have their first varsity hits. Kendra's was a double. Heather (Adams) hit her first-ever home run in a game, a two-run shot over the center field fence.

"She also pitched a very good game, with only three of the seven runs earned," the coach said. "She has uncharacteristically walked a high number of batters in her first three games, and in this one, she had no walks. "Defensively, I couldn't be more pleased. The infield is as solid as I can remember in my previous five years of coaching here. Today was a great step forward for the team."

Heather Adams had three hits, including a home run and a double, and drove in three runs. Maeghan Pomerantz went four-for-four with a double and three RBIs. Taylor Reed had two hits and an RBI, and Angie Shockey, Morgan Vivier and Kendra Castillo had hits and RBIs. Castillo's hit was a double. Madi Karst also drove in a run.

Heather Adams went the distance in the circle, striking out three, and improved to 1-2 on the season.

The Lady Tigers, now 1-3 on the season, have a busy week of action this week. They were home against Columbia Tuesday, host Nampa on Thursday, travel to Kimberly Friday and host Filer on Saturday starting at noon.

This week, the Mountain Home News begins its weekly series of spotlighting members of the Mountain Home Lady Tigers softball team.

Heather Adams

Heather Adams is a senior pitcher for the Lady Tigers, the daughter of Sam and Pauline Adams.

Her main hobbies include softball, cooking, and spending time with family and friends.

Heather's goals for the season? "Go to State."

Her future goals include attending Idaho State University and becoming a dietician.