Lady Tigers go two-and-out at district tournament

The softball season came to a close for the Mountain Home Lady Tigers as they lost to Kuna and Caldwell last week at this year's district tournament.

Kuna 11, Mountain Home 1

(Five innings)

The sixth-seed Lady Tigers opened the District III 4A softball tournament last Monday against number three seed Kuna, and lost to the Lady Kavemen, 11-1, in five innings at Kuna.

A seven-run first inning was more than enough for Kuna's Nicole Arizana, who struck out 12 in four innings of work. Mountain Home's lone run came in the fifth inning off Rylee Newman.

Taylor Reed and Ashten Harrigan had Mountain Home's only hits. McKenna Lewis suffered the loss for Mountain Home.

"We were not ready to play tonight," said Mountain Home Lady Tigers softball coach Ron Nicolosi. "Kuna and (Nicole) Arizana was, and she proved it, getting all 12 outs in her four innings of work by strikeout.

"I don't think I've seen her throw any harder than what she did tonight," the coach added. "We need to put this behind us and focus our efforts on Caldwell if we want to continue our season."

Caldwell 14, Mountain Home 4

(Five innings)

Caldwell scored in every inning on their way to a 14-4 win over Mountain Home on May 5 in an elimination game at Caldwell.

The Lady Cougars pounded out 18 hits, scoring three runs in the first, four in the second, two each in the third and fourth and three more in the fifth to end the game by the 10-run rule.

Angie Shockey had two hits, including a double and an RBI. Ryan Floyd had a hit and an RBI, and Paris Mederios, Taylor Reed and Maeghan Pomerantz also had hits with Reed and Pomerantz hitting doubles. McKenna Lewis suffered the loss.

"Our inability to handle the 'small ball' really cost us today," Coach Nicolosi said after the game. "Caldwell exploited us with the bunt, and our players didn't adjust and didn't react well at all. I thought the umpires missed some outs on those bunts, but you have to play through things like that."

Seven errors didn't help the Lady Tigers' cause either, the coach added.

"Offensively, we just didn't adjust very well to their pitcher," he said. "After seeing (Nicole) Arizana from Kuna yesterday, who throws in the low 60s, to this girl, who might throw 50 (miles per hour), it was a huge adjustment. We were impatient, out on our front foot and swinging at some poor pitches. It was a tough way to end the season."

With the loss, the Lady Tigers closed their season at 1-21. Coach Nicolosi called it a tough season for his team.

"We came into it with high expectations and are disappointed that we didn't meet some of our goals as a team," he said. "We saw some great improvement individually.

Looking to the next season, Coach Nicolosi thinks the future of Lady Tigers' softball looks promising.

"Next year looks like we will be young and inexperienced. You might call it a rebuilding year," he said. "We will be losing five of our nine starters -- some of them in key positions."

He's interested in seeing what next year's class of freshmen can bring to the Lady Tigers.

"I've heard good things about them, and they will have some opportunities available to them," he said. "This year's JV squad also has some potential to fill some slots next year, as we saw some very good improvement in some of those players. How fast we come along will depend on the players themselves and how much work they are willing to put in during the summer, fall and winter to improve."