by Rusty Ellis
The DeKalb County Tigerettes fell behind early, but rallied behind a gritty effort from Kora Kilgore in the circle to take down Stone Memorial in the first round of the District 7/AAA Tournament on Thursday.
Stone struck first in the opening frame, as a sacrifice fly and wild pitch gave the Lady Panthers a 2-0 lead to start the game.
SMHS starter Haley Dalton was locked in early as well, as she kept the Tigerettes off the board for the first two innings to preserve the lead, but DeKalb finally broke through with three runs in the bottom of the third inning.
Madison Martin’s bunt with one out was thrown away for an error to score the first run, and she came around to score on an RBI single from Morgan Walker to tie the game up at 2-2. Gracie Randolph then drove in walker with a single of her own to give DeKalb a 3-2 lead.
Bryna Pelham continued swinging a hot bat of her own in the fourth when her RBI double drove in the fourth run of the game for the Tigerettes, and the final run came around in the bottom of the sixth on another RBI hit from Pelham.
This gave Kilgore all the run support she needed, as she slammed the door shut in the seventh inning to close out a gritty 5-2 win for the Tigerettes over Stone Memorial.
Head coach Danielle Horton says it wasn’t the prettiest game her team has played, but there was plenty to be happy with after the win.
“We really drilled yesterday about errors and making adjustments, both defensively and offensively,” Horton said. “They were ready to play, and they came out ready to go…softball’s a tough game and it’s a long game sometimes, so it’s tough to keep that intensity up, but once you’ve got it going and your dugout’s loud, it really helps you at the plate and in the field.”
Horton says Kilgore would probably tell you herself that Thursday wasn’t her best outing, but she still gritted through the longer innings and made big pitches when her team needed it the most.
“She had five walks, so it definitely wasn’t her best outing, but her rise ball was working all day,” Horton said. “She wanted the ball, it didn’t matter to her what her pitch-count was…that kind of fight and intensity is something you like to have out there in the circle.”
As far as what she wants to see carried over from this win, Horton says the Tigerettes will have to continue making fast adjustments in the field and at the plate if they want the season to continue.
“That’s what’s been killing us, it’s not that we haven’t been hitting, it’s been the errors,” Horton said. “In this kind of district, you just can’t afford to make those kinds of mistakes…It’s going to be whoever has the less errors will win the ballgame.”
DeKalb County will now take on Upperman in the winner’s bracket on Monday, while Stone will face Cumberland County.
