Tiger softball advances past Reed

They had to battle Thursday afternoon, but top-seeded Douglas High School softball is into the Class 5A North regional semifinal after downing Reed, 3-1.

The Tigers will take on Spanish Springs tomorrow (Friday) at 4 p.m. at Bishop Manogue High School. The Cougars beat Bishop Manogue, 7-0, Thursday.

Douglas has beaten Spanish Springs three times this season by final scores of 10-0, 3-1 and 6-0.

The winner will head to the regional title game while the loser will fall into the consolation game and play at 10 a.m. Saturday morning.

The regional title game will be Saturday at noon.  

CLUTCH HITS LATE

The No. 1 seed in the Class 5A North sat tied with the Raiders, 1-1, after the top of the fifth.

It wasn’t tied for long as Lilyann Lee put a single over the centerfielder’s head, allowing Cam McLelland to come around to score.

In the sixth it was Marissa McLelland who added on an insurance run for the Tigers smacking a single into shallow centerfield.

The sophomore said her mind was on her senior teammates in her last at-bat.

“I was really thinking about how it’s our senior’s last game they’ll ever play here,” said McLelland. “I need to get an insurance run so we can keep it going.”

Her RBI single scored Maddie Gooch, who reached on a two-out single of her own.

It’s not necessarily fair to compare this year’s offensive numbers to last year’s squad – which broke the single-season home run record – but Douglas’ bats have been a bit quieter this spring.

Even with the Tigers having five hits in Thursday’s win, head coach John Glover didn’t show much concern.

“I thought she (Reed’s Ava Maxwell) pitched well,” said Glover. “We always want to have more runs, but we understand that it’s not going to be 10 or 15 nothing every day. Teams are too good this time of year.”

They’ve received some additional help over the last few games.

Cam McLelland took a pinch-hit at-bat in the sixth and reached on an error.

It was just the third game the junior has appeared in this season after missing time with an injury.

Last season, McLelland was one of the Tigers toughest outs, hitting .434 at the plate with 17 extra-base hits.

“Cam is a great player,” said Glover. “She’s been out all year and we are excited to have her back. She’s going to fill an important role going down the stretch here.”

In the circle, Talia Tretton worked her way out of a couple jams, but was her usual dominant self.

Of Reed’s five hits, four of them came from the leadoff spot off the bat of sophomore Breanna Staats.

Leading by two runs in the seventh, Tretton buzzed through the first hitter of the inning with three fastballs. Two groundouts sealed the win.  

“It’s been so impressive because she’s pitched almost every inning. She’s just been relentless,” said Glover. “It’s just fun to watch her compete.”

She finished Thursday with 12 strikeouts, bringing her season total to 325, which is tied for ninth most strikeouts by any pitcher in the nation.