Lady Tiger Fastpitch
Published 12:00 am Tuesday, September 11, 2007
Lady Tigers get rings tonight
By Myra Bean
They have the game ball, the trophy and the banner. Now it’s time for the rings.
The South Panola Lady Tiger fastpitch softball team will receive its crowning glory tonight when presented with the 5A state championship rings.
Under first year head coach Ashleigh Hicks, the Lady Tigers went 31-4 taking out the two-time state champion Oak Grove in May.
Hicks was named the softball coach of the year.
Oak Grove had gone undefeated for two years before they met South Panola in the first round of the state champpionship.
In the first game of the series, South Panola won 1-0. Making history, South Panola hosted the second game of the state series. Oak Grove had a 1-0 lead. In the bottom of the sixth, the number four batter catcher Casi Brooks hit a triple, driving home the other three batters who had loaded the bases.
Pitcher Whitney Kiihnl struck out her 500th batter of the season to end the game and help win the championship for the team.
Kiihnl was recognized as the Gatorade softball player of the year.
The Lady Tigers won three games in regular season tournaments and one game to district foe Horn Lake.
They went through the postseason tournaments undefeated in route to the state championship.
The ceremony tonight is in the high school cafeteria beginning at 6 p.m. Tickets are $10.