The DCHS Tigerette softball team’s season ended Thursday with a final four finish in the TSSAA Class AA Girls Softball Tournament. A 5-2 loss to White House Heritage at the Murfreesboro Starplex brought an end to a 34-6-1 season for the Tigerettes.
The ladies from DeKalb opened the state tourney with a win over the #1 ranked team in the state when they battled past Dyersburg in a 5-3 game on Tuesday (May 24).
The Tigerettes scored 5 runs on seven hits in the game, committing two errors. DeKalb outpaced the Lady Trojans 2-1 in the first inning when Tyra Graham led off with a single, took second on a Lexi Bates grounder, and went to third on an error. Katie Hall and Dani Meadows punched in singles to put both Graham and Kayley Caplinger across the plate.
Dyersburg was granted a run in the bottom of the first on an illegal pitch. The Tigerettes held a 2-1 lead going into the second.
DeKalb added three more runs in the second inning after Hannah Walker reached base on a single and was given a free run home when Graham lifted a pitch over the fence for a home run. Lexi Bates then got on base with a single and got across the plate on a sacrifice by Meadows.
DeKalb County maintained the 5-1 lead until the bottom of the seventh, when Dyersburg threatened with two runs. The Tigerette defense closed the deal, however, and DeKalb advanced to the second round of the tourney with a 5-3 win.
Graham blasted a single and a two-run homer, Lexi Bates and Katie Hall hit two singles each, and Hannah Walker added a single.
Caplinger took the win from the mound, striking out seven Lady Trojans and walking two. She gave up three runs on four hits in seven innings.
The Tigerettes had a harder time with Waverly Central, taking a 6-2 loss to the team Wednesday evening.
The game remained scoreless until the third inning, when DeKalb scored twice to take a 2-0 lead. A fourth inning rally netted five runs for Waverly, however, and another run in the fifth sent the Tigerettes into the loser’s bracket after a rain delay in the bottom of the fifth.
The Tigerettes scored two runs on four hits, committing four errors. Hall hit two singles in the contest, while Caplinger and Myranda Bailiff put in a single each.
Caplinger struck out two and walked two, giving up six runs on four hits in seven innings on the mound.
The loss sent DeKalb to meet Chester County in a fight to get out of the loser’s bracket Thursday morning. The Tigerettes were not letting go easily, and took the Lady Eagles down 5-1.
Caplinger gave up one run on four hits in seven innings, striking out five batters and walking five. The Tigerettes scored five runs on six hits and committed no errors.
DeKalb opened with three runs in the first and added two more in the third when Kendall Taylor sacrificed to right field to put two runners across. Chester County put their lone run across in the third. Graham pounded a single and double, Walker hit two singles, and Hall and Bailiff had a single each.
The win put the Tigerettes in the top four teams in the state, and in line to play the White House Heritage Lady Patriots. Thursday afternoon.
DeKalb managed only two runs, both home runs from Graham. She put pitches over the fence in the fifth and seventh innings, while the Lady Patriots scored three runs in the fourth and two in the seventh. Hall and Meadows hit a single each for DeKalb. Caplinger gave up five runs on nine hits. She struck out three batters and walked none.
The Tigerettes end the 2016 season fourth in the state in the AA division with a 35-6-1 overall record.