Having survived some close calls at the end of the regular season, Douglas High School softball coach Todd Wilcks knew it would be important to generate some offense from the very start of the Northern 4A Regional Tournament. The Tigers hit the ball early and they hit it often Thursday afternoon on their way to a 10-1 opening round tournament victory against Fallon at Carson High School.
Kristi Olsen and Brittany Puzey both went 3-for-3 to lead a 12-hit attack that propelled Douglas (33-7) into a winners bracket game against Reno at noon today. Puzey also pitched six innings before giving way to Kellei Kizer in the seventh.
Even though Douglas entered the tournament as the Sierra League's No. 1 seed, Wilcks was well aware that the Tigers had been forced to play catchup in each of the past three weekends. During that stretch, they rallied from a four-run deficit to beat Carson 6-5 in 11 innings and also dropped an 8-7 verdict to Wooster in 10 innings.
"We've been winning, but we haven't been playing our best ball," Wilcks said. "We've talked about that. This is a new season, so I think the kids are re-energized and ready to go. We hit the ball well today, probably the best we've hit in the last three weeks."
The Tigers, who lost their regional opener against Reed last year, failed to score despite putting two runners on base in each of the first two innings. But they broke through to score three runs in the third and four runs in the fourth.
"They got after it early and that was important," Wilcks said. "Anytime you score early and put pressure on the other team, usually things begin to go your way."
The Greenwave scored one run in the second inning and threatened again in the third when Anne Mackedon legged out an infield hit and Liz Lewis singled. They had runners on second and third with nobody out, but Puzey got No. 3 hitter Michelle Beach on a comebacker and then struck out cleanup hitter Korey Ellis. She then escaped from the jam when catcher Valerie Smith alertly caught a runner coming too far down the third base line and ran her down for the third out. Smith, a senior, got the out with a diving tag just inside the bag at third.
"That was a big play," Puzey said. "She dove for it and all; that was just awesome.
"The defense played great behind me today. They gave me a double play," the junior right-hander went on. "I didn't have my best stuff today. None of my pitches were working for me, so I felt fortunate to win."
The sound of those bats was certainly welcome, too. Olsen led off the bottom half of the third with a double into the left field gap. Puzey singled up the middle. Valerie Smith tied the score with a sacrifice fly to center field. Stevie Smith drove in the go-ahead run with another sacrifice fly. And Jessie Kizer's single to left made it 3-1.
The Tigers extended their lead to 7-1 in the fourth, aided by Puzey's two-run double, Kayla Dunn's sacrifice fly to right and Valerie Smith drove in another ball on a ground ball fielder's choice.
After Amber Smith pitched two scoreless innings for Fallon, sophomore left-hander Tiffany John came on to pitch the third, and Smith returned to pitch in the fourth.
"We had that plan in place two days ago," Fallon coach Tami Peel said. "Douglas is a good hitting club, and anytime you're up against a club that hits like they do, you have to try something."
The Greenwave simply experienced the misfortune of facing a Douglas lineup that received hits from eight of the nine spots in the order.
Fallon finished with 10 hits, led by a 3-for-4 performance from Beach. Bethany Ellis, Tiffany John and Mackedon had two hits each for the Greenwave, who left 12 base runners stranded. Douglas ended a fifth inning rally with a 4-6-3 double play and then Puzey worked out of a bases loaded jam in the sixth without allowing a run.
"They got their runners home and we didn't," Peel said. "You can't leave 12 on base and expect to win."
Later in the day, Fallon (16-15) was eliminated with a 13-12 loss in nine innings against Galena.
MCQUEEN 1, NORTH VALLEYS 0
Sophomore ace Katie Eshelman pitched a one-hitter with 13 strikeouts and Brittany Johnson singled home the winning run with no outs in the bottom of the seventh inning as McQueen (29-4) won its opener.
Eshelman only allowed two base runners, one on a fourth-inning single by Carli Spellacy, and helped out her own cause by hitting 3-for-3, including a single that loaded the bases in the seventh. Johnson followed with a line drive single over shortstop to bring Sarah Hughes home with the winning run.
Nicole Ellis pitched the distance for North Valleys, allowed eight hits to go with six strikeouts and two walks.
REED 4, WOOSTER 2
Reed scored three runs in the top of the seventh inning to rally past Wooster in another first-round game. Heather Darby drove home the tying run with a bad-hop single to the left side of the infield and Tia Bartek followed with a triple to drive home the go-ahead run. Darby and Bartek both hit 2-for-4 in the game for the Raiders, who finished with 10 hits.
Wooster, the four-time defending state champion, came back to stay alive in the tournament with a 3-2 victory against North Valleys in an elimination game.
RENO 6, GALENA 1
Maddie Garcia hit 3-for-3 and Stephanie Shuman pitched five-hit ball as the Huskies won their opener. Britton Murdock doubled one run home and Garcia singled as Reno scored four runs after two outs in the fourth inning. Justine Sargent pitched eight-hit ball for Galena.
Galena later staged a big comeback to defeat Fallon 13-12 in an elimination game. The Grizzlies rallied from an 11-3 deficit, then came back to win after Fallon had scored once to take a 12-11 lead in the top of the ninth.
