Softball: Lady Tigers' season comes to an end against Reed

After staying alive against Damonte Ranch to start the day, the Douglas softball team just didn't have enough left in the tank to keep its season going agaist Reed Friday afternoon.

The Raiders took a 10-0 victory in five innings, bring the Tigers' season to an abrupt end after Douglas posted an impressive 6-0 win over Damonte.

"It's not the way we wanted it to end," Douglas coach Andy Mitchell said. "They played great this morning, it was a great game on both sides and the kids hung in there and battled.

"But it's a tough thing to do, to win one and come right back and try to keep it going. We hung everything on (pitcher) Stephanie Harper's shoulders and she did a phenomenal job, but it was just a long couple of days."

Reed scored two runs in the first, added two in the third and sent one more across in the fourth but the Raiders broke the game open on a five-run fifth that featured a grand slam.

Douglas only managed four hits against Reed pitchers Chelsea Cohen (seven strikeouts, no walks) and Christy Pasly (two strikeouts, one walk) and didn't advance any base runners past second.

"Cohen was hitting her spots and we were chasing pitches," Mitchell said. "We were behind in a lot of counts. It's tough to get anything going when you're down 0-2 and that's what we were facing a lot today."

The loss was a far cry from the day's opener, which saw Douglas lead 1-0 almost throughout before a Katrina Morgan grand slam in the bottom of the sixth put the game away.

"We were hitting the ball well and Katrina came back with that home run, it was good," Mitchell said.

The home run was Morgan's third in as many games during the tournament. She finished the tournament with seven RBIs.

Douglas also got RBIs from Mackenzie Cauley and Morgan Blomstrom in the win. Cauley and Harper each doubled as well.

Harper struck out three while throwing a five-hit shutout against Damonte.

"She pitched four games in two days, so she was losing a little velocity against Reed," Mitchell said. "But Reed is a great team. You have to give them credit."

Douglas finished the season with a 26-7 record overall.

"I'm really proud of this team," Mitchell said. "They worked hard all year long. Top to bottom it was a great team and we were able to interchange a lot of people. Just a great group of kids."