It may not have been as pretty as they might have wanted, but the Douglas High softball team still strengthened its grip on first place in the Sierra League with a doubleheader sweep of Wooster Tuesday afternoon in Minden.
The Tigers picked up 9-2 and 4-0 victories over the Colts to improve to 9-5 overall and 7-1 in league play on the year.
"We played well the first game but we were a little disappointed with the second game," Douglas coach Andy Mitchell said. "We came out flat, maybe overlooked them a little bit. It was nice to get two wins, but we would've liked to play better."
The wins extended Douglas' win streak to seven games since the Tigers lost their league opener at Fallon two weeks ago.
"The kids have been working hard in practice, getting a lot done there and they are improving a lot," Mitchell said. "We've just had good focus on all areas of our game in practice and that has translated into some wins for us."
The Lady Tigers got strong production from the bottom half of their lineup in game one as Rebecca Trute went 3-for-4 with a pair of RBIs and three runs scored and Ali Murray went 2-for-4 with a pair of RBIs. Pitcher Stephanie Harper also went 3-for-4, driving in one run and Emily Weaver and Maddy Gilbert each went 2-for-4.
Weaver, Trute, Harper and catcher Katrina Morgan each doubled in the game and Marina Diaz added a base hit.
Harper struck out 14 batters and walked three in 13 innings of work between the two games. She took the win in both games while Chelsea Fent worked one inning of relief in game one.
In game two, Douglas did the bulk of its damage in the bottom of the second with three runs.
Trute was hit by a pitch to lead the inning off, Diaz reached on an error and Murray singled to load the bases.
Gilbert hit an RBI single and Mia Townsell re-loaded the bases with a walk. Diaz scored on a passed ball and Weaver hit a sacrifice fly to score Murray.
The Tigers tacked one more run on in the fifth when Townsell led off with a single and Weaver followed with another single. A throwing error on the play allowed Townsell to score.
Gilbert led the team with a pair of hits and an RBI in the game.
Douglas next takes on Damonte Ranch on Thursday in Reno.
"They're a strong team, we're definitely going to have to play better than this to hang with them," Mitchell said.
