Lady Tigers falter as season ends

The struggles continued for the Mountain Home Lady Tigers softball team last week as they closed out their regular season conference softball schedule with losses to Middleton and Kuna.

Middleton 12, Mountain Home 1

(Five innings)

Defensive miscues by Mountain Home led to eight unearned runs April 28 as they fell to the Lady Vikings from Middleton, 12-1, in five innings at Memmelaar Field in Mountain Home.

Mountain Home's lone run came in the second inning on a home run by Breanna Tindall. Taylor Reed smacked a double and CJ Bish also had hits.

McKenna Lewis suffered the loss for Mountain Home, giving up just four earned runs while striking out four batters in three-plus innings of work.

"It was a tough night for us," said Mountain Home girls softball coach Ron Nicolosi after the game. "We made a few more mistakes than we have been making and Middleton capitalized on them. We know that Middleton has a very good defense and that they do not make very many mistakes, so we have to play solid defense.

"Offensively, we didn't hit the ball like I think we're capable of," the coach added. "Too many balls hit in the infield, and they make all the plays except one. It was good to see Breanna (Tindall) have a good night and get her first varsity home run."

Kuna 13, Mountain Home 0

(Five innings)

Kuna's Nicole Arizana silenced the Mountain Home bats Thursday, and five Lady Tiger errors led to eight unearned runs as Kuna blanked Mountain Home, 13-0, at Kuna.

The Lady Kavemen put four runs up on the scoreboard in the first, third and fourth innings while Nicole Arizana limited Mountain Home to just two hits -- a double by CJ Bish and a single by Maeghan Pomerantz -- as Kuna won in five innings.

Mountain Home starter Ryan Floyd gave up just seven hits but walked eight in suffering the loss. McKenna Lewis pitched a scoreless and hitless inning of relief.

"Not a lot to say about tonight," said Coach Nicolosi after the game. "We made mistakes, (Nicole) Arizana threw very well and we got beat. I thought Ryan (Floyd) threw well for the most part. She had quite a few walks, and part of that was her and the other part was the inconsistency of the umpire. She made some very good pitches that should have got us some outs, but didn't.

"This is the time of year that we need to tighten up our fundamentals and make every routine play. If we can do that, we have a chance when the 'new season' starts on Monday," the coach added referring to the district tournament.

Kuna 7, Mountain Home 5

Fielding errors led to a seven-run fourth inning for Kuna as they held off the Lady Tigers, 7-5, Friday to close out the regular season softball schedule at Memmelaar Field in Mountain Home.

Just one of the seven runs Kuna scored in the fourth inning was earned. McKenna Lewis pitched well, striking out four and walking four in going the distance for the loss.

Taylor Reed smacked two doubles for Mountain Home, scoring two runs. Angie Shockey had a double and drove in two runs. CJ Bish had a hit and an RBI and McKenna Lewis also had a hit. Ryan Floyd had an RBI and Emily DeForest scored two runs.

"This was quite an emotional day," said Coach Nicolosi after the game. "Senior Day is such a special event and really brings out the emotions in all of us. I was so proud of how the girls were able to get back to focusing on the game.

"Our only two errors occurred early in that inning, and we had a couple of pop-ups that maybe should have been caught, and that extended the inning," the coach said. "Instead of one or two runs, they ended up with seven. We played all the senior and it was nice to see them step up. Alexis (Juarez) had a great day defensively, and Emily (DeForest) did a fine job at first, considering she had had little practice there. McKenna (Lewis) pitched really well and kept them off balance, and the girls, for the most part, played well behind her."

Offensively, four of the team's five runs were earned, and the coach was pleased with that effort.

The Lady Tigers finished the regular season 1-14 in conference play, earning the sixth seed. They opened District III 4A softball action at Kuna on Monday against the third-seeded Lady Kavemen.