Tigers roll into baseball, softball playoffs

For a little while, it appeared as though the Douglas baseball team was going to have to play a game that had no effect on the Tigers' playoff seeding just a day before the Northern 4A Regionals were set to begin.

The NIAA ruled that the wrong call had been made in the third inning last Thursday when the Tigers batted out of order against Wooster.

The Colts turned around and won the first game of a doubleheader Friday 7-4. A Wooster win in the second would have forced the teams to replay the game Monday afternoon from the blown call on.

As it was, it didn't end up mattering as the Tigers pounded out 12 hits in game two to take an 11-6 victory at Wooster to effectively end the Colts' season.

Nate Whalin pitched a complete game, striking out two and scattering five hits. He also homered and drove in three runs to help his own effort as he picked up his third win on the mound this season.

Ryan Pruitt and D.J. Brady each drove in two runs as well. Jordan Hadlock and Ryan Laing each drove in one run apiece.

Brady, Hadlock, Pruitt and Phil Mannelly each collected two hits.

Brady and Roman Davis each doubled.

In the first game, Brady, Tyler May, Laing and Pruitt each drove in a run in the fourth inning to account for all of the Tigers' scoring.

May struck out four and walked two on the mound, taking the loss in the game.

Douglas took on Galena in the first round of the Northern 4A Regional playoffs Tuesday night. The results of that game will be in Friday's R-C.

The Grizzlies were riding a hot streak to close out the year and were ranked No. 3 in the region by the Sierra Nevada Sports Media Poll last week.

Douglas either plays the Reno or Reed today at Reno High School, depending on what happened in Tuesday's games.

If the Tigers' won, they play at 6 p.m. today. If they lost, they play at 3 p.m. today.

The Douglas softball team opens the playoffs Thursday at Carson High School with a 2 p.m. game against McQueen, currently ranked No. 2 in the region.

-- Joey Crandall can be reached at jcrandall@recordcourier.com or at (775) 782-5121, ext. 212.