After 11 games in less than a week, the Douglas softball team, exhausted from two separate tournaments, came home - victorious.
The Lady Tigers found ways to win throughout the day Saturday, knocking off top-seeded Sierra Vista of Las Vegas 7-5 to claim the 28th annnual Reed Easter Tournament championship.
"We had to battle all day long," Douglas head coach Todd Wilcks said. "There were no easy games."
Douglas had to come from behind in each of its first two games of the day, defeating Foothill, Calif., in the quarterfinals 4-2, and beating Galena 9-3 in the semis.
Douglas scored in each of the first three innings of the championship, but broke the game open in the top of the fourth.
Kristy Olsen tripled with the bases loaded to score Sam Willson, Kaycee Wilcks and Missy Kaplan to distance the Tigers just enough for the win.
Kellei Kizer pitched efficiently, striking out one and walking none to pick up the win.
With the score 7-3 in the bottom of the fifth, Sierra Vista mounted one last rally, scoring two runs before Kayla Dunn came in to close out the game and pick up the save with two strikeouts and no walks.
Douglas drew seven walks through the game, battling high in the count often.
"We took good approaches," Wilcks said. "We didn't swing at bad pitches. We hit the ball well. When you get in a game like this, playing against a team like Sierra Vista, every at bat counts."
Against Foothill, Dunn was dominating. Up until facing Douglas, the Cougars had been one of the more impressive offensive teams in the tournament.
Dunn, however, shut them down with 14 strikeouts and three walks, allowing just three hits.
Jessie Kizer had a huge day for the Tigers, going 1-for-3 with two RBI against Foothill and going 2-for-3 with 1 RBI against Galena.
Her RBIs against Foothill proved to be the game-winners.
"I was just looking to step up at the plate," she said. "I knew I had to get something going."
Against Galena, with Douglas trailing 3-0 in the bottom of the fourth, Kizer's RBI single to score Stevie Smith got the Tigers on the board and sparked an 8 run inning.
"When we were down against Galena, we could've folded out the tent in right there," Wilcks said. "But they battled back and came up with key runs and put us in the championship game."
Another standout for Douglas Saturday was Stevie Smith, who went a combined 3-for-5 with two doubles and three runs scored. Dunn drove in five runs on the day and Brittany Puzey was solid from the circle against Galena with six strikeouts and two walks.
Douglas is now 19-5 overall and 6-0 in league.
