Aside from a scare on the first day of the season, the Douglas High softball team put up a fairly successful weekend at the Sacramento Preseason Tournament.
Douglas took third by posting a 4-1 record in the three-day event.
"It was a good all-around weekend for us," Douglas coach Andy Mitchell said. "We saw what we wanted to see. We got to play everyone where we wanted to see them and it was a great opportunity to see what our girls were capable of."
For as well as the tournament wrapped up, the weekend got off to a near disastrous start.
Three-time All-Sierra Leaguer Lauren Hoppe slid hard into second base in the first game and came up hobbled on her knee.
"She was in a lot of pain and sat out the next day," Mitchell said. "She got it checked out though and it was just a strained ligament, so she played on Saturday and had a great weekend for us."
Douglas beat Bret Harte 9-0 to open the tournament, topped Rosemont 4-2 and beat Vanden out of Fairfield 1-0 to advance to the semifinals.
The Tigers dropped a 9-0 decision to Will C. Wood but came back to beat Vacaville 8-1 in the third-place game.
"I think our strongest point was our pitching," Mitchell said. "Stephanie Harper threw some great games for us and Dorothy Sliva really had a couple of great appearances.
"She threw almost a complete game against Rosemont."
Mitchell also noted the team's defensive play over the weekend.
"There are some things we still need to work on, but we were pretty strong defensively," he said. "We didn't give up any big innings where things got out of hand. They really did a great job."
Sophomore shortstop Emily Weaver was the team's most consistent hitter over the weekend, but Douglas had a number of other players step up in single games, including Hoppe, Katrina Morgan, Harper and Tara Paiement, who had three RBIs against Rosemont.
Harper drove in the winning run against Vanden in the fifth inning.
Douglas gets right into league play Thursday, hosting rival Carson at 3:30 p.m.
The Tigers will head out directly after the game for a weekend tournament in Susanville, before returning home for a doubleheader in Carson Tuesday.
"That's the tough part, is we'll have to see Carson this week and then head straight back on the road," Mitchell said.
