Tigerettes split games, remain second in District

By Tyler Tyre

Slatonite Intern

The Slaton Tigerettes got a big win over Denver City last Tuesday (April 9), beating the Fillies by a score of 11-7 in a back and forth game.

Denver City jumped out to an early lead over Slaton in the top of the first, scoring two runs. But the Tigers bounced back in the bottom of the inning thanks to RBI singles from Kamryn Gibbs and Amaya Flores to tie things up at two. Slaton added another run in the bottom of the second and Alexis Rubio added an RBI walk to make the score 4-2 in the third.

The Fillies scored four runs in the fourth to take the lead.

The Tigerettes answered with one run of their own in the bottom of the inning to keep things close, with Denver City leading 6-5 after four.

“We’re scoring a lot of runs, but we really haven’t been swinging the bats well. It’s important for us to get our bats going in this next stretch of games,” Head Coach Brandon Langston said after the game.

The Fillies grew their lead to two in the top of the fifth, but the Tigerettes’ bats started to heat up in the bottom of the inning. Lizzie Thomas hit a two run double to tie the game and Sam Gatica followed it up with a two run homer to give Slaton a 9-7 lead.

The Tigerettes then held the Fillies scoreless in the sixth due to a great effort from Alexis Rubio on the mound and then pulled away in the bottom half.

Amaya Flores hammered an RBI double in the inning and scored on a throwing error to give the Tigerettes an 11-7 lead heading into the seventh.

Rubio again pitched well in the seventh before handing over the ball to Kaylee Franklin who recorded the last out to secure the Slaton victory.

“Rubio really stepped up today. She has battled injuries throughout the year, and she was great for us tonight. Being able to depend on her and give Franklin a day off was huge,” Langston said.

Slaton followed up Tuesday win with a 5-4 loss to Shallowater on Friday. With the split, the Tigerettes remain in second place in district with an 8-4 district record. The Tigerettes will next play in Roosevelt on Friday.

“I think the biggest need for this team is rest, we preach playing multiple sports here and for a lot of these girls it has been a rough and busy two weeks,” said Langston. “So being able to get some rest coming up will be key.”