There are no bad teams at the State Tournament. Each and every team at the TSSAA Spring Fling has earned the right to be there, showing up as the best teams in their districts and regions. With that said, there was no doubt that the DeKalb County High School Tigerettes would face some of the toughest competition they had seen all season.
With the scheduled games for Tuesday called due to severe weather in the area, the Tigerettes would play their first two games of the tournament on Wednesday, May 21, against the McNairy County High School Lady Bobcats out of Selmer, TN. Both teams would come in seemingly evenly matched, and as the game progressed that would prove true.
At the top of the first, Tigerette pitcher Kora Kilgore would put the first three batters down swinging.
DeKalb would do much better at their first at bat, starting with a walk for Rylee Wilbur. Zayleigh Bain would then sacrifice to third as Wilbur took second, followed by Bryna Pelham with a double fly to left field as Wilbur crossed the plate. Pelham would take third on the throw. Next, Kilgore stepped to the plate and singled on a line drive to center as Pelham came home. McNairy would get off the field, but the Tigerettes were up 2-0.
The game would go into a pitching battle with McNairy not getting on the board until the top of the fifth, scoring one run, then another run at the top of the sixth. The stalemate would take the game to the bottom of the eighth, where, with two outs on the board, Brooke Fuson took a base after being hit by a pitch. The next up to the plate would be the slugger, Hannah Brown, who with a 1-2 count homered on a line drive out of centerfield. The two-run home run ended the game giving DeKalb the 4-2 victory.
Kilgore struck out 19 batters in the game, allowing three hits and two runs over eight innings, walking one.
Later that same day, the Tigerettes were back in action, this time facing the Unicoi County Lady Devils. It would be another low-scoring game, dominated by pitchers on both sides.
The Tigerettes would not get on the board until the bottom of the fourth, after a Zayleigh Bain double line drive to left field. Kilgore would later step to the plate and would reach on a grounder and an error by the pitcher, as Bain stepped on home plate. DeKalb was up 1-0. As it would turn out, that would be all they would need.
The game would go to the top of the seventh, when Kilgore would strike out the first three batter, each going down swinging, giving DeKalb the 1-0 win. Kilgore struck out 17 batters in this game, giving up one hit over seven innings, walking none.
With that win, the Tigerettes were set for a rematch on Thursday against the winner of the loser’s bracket, McNairy County. This would be another battle.
The Tigerettes seemed to have the game in hand at the top of the first, after putting two runs on the board. Wilbur started things off with a single ground ball to center. As Bain was up to bat, Wilbur would take second on a passed ball, then steal third, and score on an error by shortstop. Bain would ground out to third, then Pelham singled on a grounder to left.
The Tigerettes speed while on base would again come into play. Pelham took second on a passed ball, as Kilgore was up to bat, and later would steal her way to third. Kilgore would line out to first, but next up, Tatum Young, singled on a bunt to third as Pelham scored. The Lady Bobcats would get off the field but DeKalb was up 2-0.
The game would go to the bottom of the second when the Lady Bobcats had Tigerette fans biting their nails. With two outs on the board, McNairy’s bats suddenly came to life. With one runner reaching on an error by Wilbur, a single and a walk loaded the bases. It was then that a triple on a line drive to right fielder Young resulted in three runs score. Another single to centerfield had another Lady Bobcat home, then a walk had runners at first and third. Another single to center sent one runner home, then a single fly to right put the sixth run across the plate. McNairy took the 6-2 lead.
The Tigerettes were down but would not just lay down. At the top of the fifth, DeKalb would take the lead back.
Pelham reached on a bunt and error at third, followed by a single grounder to left by Kilgore. Tatum Young loaded the bases with a single bunt to short, then Sophie Adcock would go down swinging. It was then Maggie Hendrixson’s turn at bat and she would double on a grounder to left, sending Pelham and Jerusalem Aldino, running for Kilgore, home. Brooke Fuson took a base after being hit by a pitch, then it was slugger Hannah Brown back to the plate. Brown singled on a line drive to right as Young scored, and later Bain tripled on line drive to center as Fuson, Brown, and Wilbur came home. The Tigerettes had taken the 8-6 lead.
The bottom of the sixth saw the Lady Bobcats attempt a comeback, and the lead off batter would start things off with a homerun fly out of right field. DeKalb get off the field, but the Lady Bobcats had cut the lead to one, 8-7.
The Tigerettes would go three and out at the top of the seventh, leaving the game to be decided with McNairy’s final at bat. A single to start things off, followed by a bunt resulting in a single from an error, had two runners on base. A pop fly would be caught by Wilbur at third, then Brown would make a fantastic catch in left for out number two. DeKalb would intentionally walk the next batter, then a pop fly to shortstop Pelham ended the game. The DeKalb County Tigerettes would be playing in the State Championship.
Kilgore had her roughest outing in the tournament, giving up 12 hits and seven runs over seven innings, striking out six and walking four.
The State Championship Game would be played Friday morning at MTSU where the Tigerettes would face off against Gibbs County. Gibbs was a State Championship juggernaut at 41-3, and having won the title 11 times previously. This was their 38th appearance in the game. They were the Goliath to DeKalb’s David, who had only appeared in the tournament nine times and had never played in the big game.
Many saw the Tigerettes as a huge underdog, but as the game began, it became clear that DeKalb had come to play and they were about to give the Lady Eagles a run for their money.
The game began as a pitching battle with each team going three and out until the top of the third. Brooke Fuson would be the first player to get on base after a single ground ball to the pitcher. She would be left standing.
Kilgore would single on a line drive to right at the top of the fourth, but with two outs on the board, she also would be left standing, while Zayleigh Bain got on base at the top of the sixth with a single line drive to center, but again Gibbs would get off the field.
A triple fly to center for Gibbs put a scare in DeKalb fans at the bottom of the sixth, and two runners would get on base at the bottom of the seventh, but once again, the Tigerettes would end the inning with goose eggs on the scoreboard. The game would go to extra innings.
Fuson would single on a line drive to center to start the eighth inning, but Brown would ground into a double play, then Wilbur flew out to right.
The pitching battle would take the game into the 10th inning, when a special TSSAA rule came into play. At 10 innings, a runner would be placed on second base to start play. Kilgore was chosen, with Jerusalem Aldino in as a courtesy runner for the pitcher. Tatum Young would single on a bunt to the catcher as Aldino took third, then Sophie Adcock would strike out swinging, followed by Maggie Hendrixson. Fuson would then ground to fielder’s choice, and catch Aldino in a runoff between third and home. She would get caught.
Gibbs had the same advantage as DeKalb, starting with a runner on second. A bunt to the catcher would see runners at first and third, then a single line drive to right saw the winning run come home. The Lady Eagles would claim the State Championship title.
Kilgore took the loss, going nine and one third innings, allowing one run on five hits, striking out eight and walking two.
DeKalb completed their season at 26-6-1 and as District Tournament Champions, winning the region tournament, sectional round, and going 3-1 as runner-up in the state Class 3A tournament.
The Tigerettes would get a warm welcome as they returned to Smithville that afternoon, receiving a police and fire escort as they traveled through town. Many came out and lined the sidewalks to cheer the Tigerettes for their great season.
1 Kora Kilgore SR
2 Bryna Pelham SR
3 Zayleigh Bain JR
4 Olivia Gilley JR
5 Danica Collier JR
6 Chaylea Lunsford JR
7 Tatum Young JR
8 Brooke Fuson SO
9 Lillie Young SO
10 Hannah Brown SO
11 Rylee Wilbur SO
12 Sophie Adcock FR
13 Jerusalem Aldino FR
14 Maggie Hendrixson FR
15 Liliana Judkins FR
16 Kaydence Johnson FR
