It's a tired Douglas High softball team that left the Carson High softball complex field early Friday evening.
After dropping a tough 3-2 decision to Reno earlier in the day, the Tigers stayed alive in the 4A regional playoffs by edging Wooster 4-3 and pounding Reed 8-1.
Douglas, 34-8 overall, returns to action today at 10 a.m. against Reno. The winner of that game faces McQueen at noon. The Tigers need three straight wins to take the title, and coach Todd Wilcks believes they can do it.
"They're ready to go," Wilcks said. "I think we can get there (to the finals). The girls came back strong after that first game.
"Our pitchers (Brittany Puzey and Kellei Kizer) did a great job. They threw a lot of pitches today and they were still dominant. We told Kellei we needed four or five innings each time, and she did that."
Puzey fanned nine and walked one in her route-going effort against Wooster. Her teammates staked her to an early 4-0 lead., and she made it stand up.
Kaycee Wilcks and Kristi Olsen walked to open the game against Jackie Millsap. After Puzey was hit by a pitch, Kayla Dunn singled home Wilcks. Valerie Smith lofted a fly into short right-centerfield to Katie Stevens, scoring Olsen to make it 2-0.
The Tigers made it 3-0 in the second when Missy Kaplan tripled to right and scored on Wilcks' infield out. Douglas added another run in the third on singles by Dunn, Stevie Smith and Jessie Kizer.
Wooster battled back and made it a close game.
Andrea Lazzari singled and scored ahead of Neely Kildow's homer to left, cutting the lead to 4-2.
"Brittany hung that one," Wilcks said. "She'd like to have that one back."
The Colts made it 4-3 in the sixth when Kildow walked and eventually scored on a single by Fletcher. Puzey was nails in the seventh, striking out Jessica Wise, getting the dangerous Katie Stevens on a fly to center and retiring Angela Picollo on a roller to second to end the game.
Puzey was a one-man demolition crew in the win over Reed, collecting three hits and driving in four runs.
Her solo homer to right off Amanda Hill gave the Tigers a 1-0 lead. Douglas made it 5-0 in the second, scoring four runs on three hits, two walks and a sacrifice fly. Olsen, Kaplan and Puzey drove in the runs.
Reed scored a run in the fourth off Kizer, but the Tigers bounced back with a run in the fifth, and Puzey ended the scoring with a two-run homer in the sixth.
Kizer struck out three and hit a batter in her four-plus innings of work, and Puzey retired all nine hitters she faced in relief.
The Tigers were forced into the loser's bracket by Reno, as they were unable to come through with a clutch hit. They left two runners on in the first and fourth innings against Stephanie Shuman.
With the score tied at 2, Kara Kroll doubled, moved to third on a sacrifice bunt and scored on Pam Anderson's single.
"We didn't get the hits when we needed them (except for the third)," Wilcks said. "We were disappointed. We shouldn't have lost. We came back strong the next two games."
