Tigerettes face struggles in rough week of games, tourney

By Melissa McCaghren

Slatonite GM

The Slaton Tigerette softball team played on a rough road last week, losing to Midland Lee Tuesday evening (Feb. 23) at home, then had mixed results in the Henrietta Tournament Friday and Saturday (Feb. 26-27).

In the tournament, the Tigerettes lost to Vernon 12-0 and Jacksboro 16-9, but defeated Archer City 24-16 and Winthorst 7-5.

Overall Head Coach Brandon Langston said the team has struggled off and on during the season, though some of it is beyond their control.

“It’s been a tough start to the season with the weather and canceling games and not getting much practice time in,” he said. “We were able to get some hitting done in the indoor cages at the baseball field but we are struggling defensively and situationally right now and mostly because we just have not been able to get out on the field for practice.

“Our basketball girls have only had three days of practice on the field, and will only get three more days of practice before District starts so we have to get some things fixed pretty quickly.”

While this is a battle, Langston reminded them they were not the only ones facing these odds. “We keep telling the girls that every other team in our District is in the same boat as we are and there are no excuses. We will just keep pushing ahead and work to get things fixed,” he added.

In the Vernon game, Langston said the game was closely fought for a while, keeping the game close against the Lady Lions until they had to pitch in pouring rain for an inning. “(We) just could not grip the ball and gave up seven runs. We were playing pretty good through five innings until the rain came,” he said.

They saw four home runs in their game against Archer City and came back from a 9-0 deficit against Jacksboro.

“We got a lot better this past weekend, faced a lot of really good pitching and bonded as a team. We have a lot of work to do but I think we are moving in the right direction,” said Langston.

Now, they continue their quest toward District, playing pre-season games including one Wednesday (March 3) against Seminole here and then the Seminole Tournament this upcoming weekend.

Teams they will face in the Seminole Tournament include Brownfield and Floydada Thursday, then Denver City, Estacado and Monahans on Saturday.

Langston said the Sadler Monument Tournament, canceled due to Winter Storm Uri, will not be made up this year; however, they plan on having the Alumni game on April 20, an off date in District.

Still, he is thankful that the Tigerettes are playing more games than the team got to last season. “After last year’s ending just being able to get out on the field and have fun has been enjoyable. We have a tough schedule this week,” he said.

“We have to use this week to get more work in on game situations and become better defensively.”

Games will be reported in next week’s edition.