Season Ends For Tigers Baseball Team

RICHLAND-- The Tigers' season came to an end Tuesday night, as they lost by 14-6 to the Patriots of Liberty Christian in loser-go-home district tournament game. The loss ended a season that held promise for Waitsburg- Prescott, but the Tigers could never truly recapture the magic of last season when they went all the way to the regional finals after a late season run.

"This year, statistically, we hit the ball better, had better pitching, and had a better record," Tigers head coach Dustin Snedigar said. "But our division was a lot better this year. We knew this game today was going to be a tough test for us."

The Tigers started the game well as they jumped on the Patriots' starting pitcher Ethan DuFault for five straight base hits to start the first inning. The scoring started with a massive triple to center field from senior Tre Brannock that cleared the bases and scored two runs. Brannock's triple was quickly followed by two more singles with Joe Purdin also picking up an RBI.

W-P was in position to score more runs with runners at both first and third and no outs, but the Patriots stopped the bleeding by picking up a double play and striking out a batter.

Despite the fast start, momentum quickly swung in the Patriots' favor, as they scored six runs in the very next half inning to put the score at 6-3 after only one inning of play. The Tigers battled back into the game with Matt Hamilton picking up 2 RBIs in the second and Purdin picking up another in the fourth inning to tie the game up at 6-6 after four innings of play.

Then the fifth inning happened.

After holding the Tigers scoreless in the top of the inning, LC scored eight runs on two triples, four singles and an error to put the game out of reach at 14-6.

"We came out well, scored three right away, swinging the bat well. They turned around, scored six on us, then we came back and tied it," Snedigar said. "We're right there, and just a couple bad innings happen. Next thing you know its 12-6, 14-6. It's hard to come back from that.

"The pitcher's up there working hard, throwing strikes, getting ground balls and getting pop-ups. We've got to block the ball. We've got to make the catch when the ball is thrown to you. We had some mistakes and they capitalized on that. Ultimately it's a closer game than it really looks. If you get those outs when you need to, it's a 9-6, 8-6 game and mentally the kids are a little more in it because they know how close it is."

The Tigers had some hope entering the final inning that they might have a chance at come- back thanks to a big game they had the night before.

Monday night, W-P played Touchet in Prescott, and the Tigers were one run away from having the game called thanks to the ten-run mercy rule. With the bases loaded, and a full count, a ball from the Tiger pitcher would have ended the game. However, the Tigers managed to escape the inning after the Touchet batter hit a pop fly to end it.

The Tigers came back and scored four runs in the sixth, and a staggering 13 runs in the seventh inning to end the game at 17-10.

"I've never been a part of something like that before. We hit something like 3 triples and two doubles in one inning," Snedigar said.

The glory didn't last, however, as the Tigers could not muster any offense over the final innings of Tuesday's game against the Patriots.

"That was a good feeling to come in to this game knowing that we could come back like that, but you got to carry it." Snedigar said. "We started the first inning, pow- pow- pow, a few runs and here we go. The next thing you know, it didn't happen and we got kind of flat."

Next year, the Tigers will lose some experience on to roster, as they are set to shed six starters to graduation.