Tigers salvage tie against McQueen

Aside from some first-inning jitters, the Douglas baseball team couldn't have asked for a much better way to open the season.

The Tigers spotted the McQueen Lancers seven runs and committed three errors in the first inning and endured a five-run mini collapse in the fifth before salvaging a 12-12 tie against the Lancers Friday afternoon at McQueen.

Douglas then took on Lowry at Reno High and simply pummeled the Buckaroos 24-1 in five innings Friday night.

"We had a bad first inning and McQueen took advantage of that," Douglas coach John Glover said. "You put yourself in a hole to start the game, I don't care if it's the first game or the 30th game, you can't do that.

"With the exception of that first half an inning, it wasn't a bad game for us offensively or defensively."

Tyson Estes started the season on the mound for the Tigers, and after getting through the first, he settled down to pitch three scoreless innings with seven strikeouts.

Meanwhile, the Tiger bats got to work, posting four runs apiece in the second and third innings to claim the lead and putting up three more in the next two innings to take an 11-7 lead into the bottom of the fifth.

Estes struck out the first batter he faced in the fifth, gave up a single to McQueen's Justin Serena and then walked Francis Dunlap on two close calls on his last two pitches.

Jimmy Pierce entered the game in place of Estes and surrendered a three-run homer to Eric Barnett. McQueen put up two more runs in the inning to take a one-run lead.

Pierce got the Tigers through a scoreless sixth and Douglas was able to tie the game up in the top of the seventh after Chad Walling doubled and Roman Davis batted him home with a double of his own.

Brandon Webb pitched the seventh for the Tigers, striking out one. The game was called due to time constraints after that.

For the game, Nate Whalin had three RBI and Davis, Pierce, Phil Mannelly and Kyle Luken each had two RBI. Mannelly hit a two-run homer and Davis and Luken each tripled to lead the Tigers.

Against Lowry, D.J. Brady pitched a solid four-hitter with eight strikeouts and only one walk.

Freshman Jordan Hadlock and Walling each went 4-for-4 from the plate while Hadlock led the team with four RBI in his first high school start.

Brady and Luken each tripled, and Davis, Mannelly and Chris Kinsley each doubled.

Luken and Pierce each had three RBI, Kinsley had two, and Whalin, Agosta and Davis each had one. As a team, the Tiger tallied 24 hits and committed only one error.

"We were able to hit the ball well and we had a lot of guys get playing time, which is always a good thing," Glover said.

Douglas plays at Galena at 11 a.m. today, and against Spanish Springs at Wooster in the afternoon.