It figured to be a close game between two teams expected to be among the top clubs in the Northern 4A and it was.
But in the end, the Douglas High girls softball team lost at Reno 3-2 on Tuesday in the two teams' league opener. Jackie Rinehart was the winning pitcher for Reno, going the distance.
Kayla Dunn gave the Tigers a strong outing, allowing two runs on six hits while striking out six through six innings. Dunn was lifted after throwing 130 pitches.
"I didn't realize that pitch count was that high or I would have taken her out earlier," Douglas coach Rick Smith said.
After Douglas scored once in the seventh inning, Reno pushed one run across in the bottom of the seventh against Brittany Puzey for the win.
Douglas had a chance to take the lead in the seventh. Valerie Smith and Dunn singled and Ashley Arneson followed with an RBI double to tie the score 2-2. But with runners at second and third and one out, Douglas failed to score any more runs.
The Tigers closed to within 2-1 in the fifth when Smith doubled and eventually scored.
Smith went 2-for-3 with a double, Arneson went 2-for-3 with a double and an RBI and Dunn was 1-for-2.
"Jackie Rinehart, she pitched a real good game," coach Smith said. "She was moving the ball in and out. We just didn't have a very good day offensively."
