By Angie Ledbetter

The South Panola Lady Tigers (15-3) slow pitch softball team saw its hopes of advancing to the second round of playoffs come to an end Tuesday at Tupelo.

In the first game, the Tupelo Lady Golden Wave downed the Lady tigers 17-3 in four innings.

In top of the first, the Lady Tigers scored one run. Center fielder Christa Brown singled to left field. Short stop Amanda Ivy got to second on a fielder’s choice when Brown got put out at second.

Third baseman Meri Morgan Fortune singled to center field advancing Ivy to third. First baseman Danielle Townsend singled to center sending Ivy home and Fortune got put out at third for second out.

The Lady Wave answered in bottom of the frame with one run to tie the game at one.

In bottom of the second, the Lady Wave’s bats came alive pushing seven runners across home plate to give them an 8-1 lead over the Lady Tigers. They added four more to their side of the board in the bottom of the third to make it a 12-1 game.

In the top of the fourth, the Lady Tigers got back in action when right center Olivia Taylor and pitcher Dorian Winfield came home for the last two runs of the game for their team. The Lady Wave answered with five runs in bottom of the frame making it a 17-3 final game.

The Lady Tigers had six hits, three errors and left six on base. The Lady Wave had 14 hits, one error and left two on base.

The second game was a totally different ballgame for both teams. The Lady Tigers were determined not to go down with out a fight. They came out fighting and won a close game 5-4 over the Lady Wave.

The Lady Tigers got on the scoreboard first in the bottom of the second when Christa Brown hit a single to shortstop and later came home when Destine Brandon singled.

In top of the third, the Lady Wave scored three runs giving them a 3-1 lead over the Lady Tigers. In bottom of the frame, the Lady Tigers answered with two runs to tie the game at three. Crystal Contreras and Ivy scored the runs.

The Lady Tigers took a 5-3 lead in bottom of the fifth when Marla Rudd and Marissa McDaniel scored. But the Lady Wave fought hard scoring one last run in top of the seventh to make the final 5-4 in favor of the Lady Tigers.

The third and final game to advance to round two of the playoffs went the Lady Wave’s way once again. The Lady Tigers scored their only three runs of the game in the top of the first with Ivy, Contreras and Townsend scoring. The Lady Wave answered with 14 runs in the bottom of the frame to give them an 11 run lead. They scored one more run in the bottom of the fourth to make the final 15-3.

The Lady Tiger’s better hitting didn’t come at the end of the season. The last two or three games, the hitting was bad for the Lady Tigers starting with the Cleveland game September 30.

Head Coach Kim Wilson said, “We did it to our selves. Tupelo didn’t beat us as much as we beat ourselves. They got some good hits when they needed to.”

“We got out hit the last four games,” said Wilson. “It came back to haunt us tonight. We lost this series because we couldn’t hit. Their hits came at the prime time and ours really never came. Even in our middle game win, they were so sparingly, it was scary. Tupelo deserved to win tonight but they’re not a better team than us.”

The team loses six seniors this year. Wilson told the girls after the game that they knew in their hearts they were better than they finished. “For the seniors, I want to send you out of here with you being able to brag about having one of the most awesome seasons South Panola softball has seen in a long, long time and that’s because of a great part by you. For the rest of you, you have another go around or two. I can’t get on that bus with any other thoughts but positive. I’m proud of each and every one of you.”