By Angie Ledbetter

The district-season ended on a win for the South Panola Lady Tigers slowpitch softball team Thursday but fell short of the playoffs.

The Lady Tigers hosted the Tupelo Lady Golden Wave and won 1-0 but came in third place in the district. Grenada had one loss, Columbus has two and the Lady Tigers have three. The Lady Tigers had a 2-0 record going into the Columbus games but lost both by a total of five runs

According to head coach Kim Wilson it came down to one bad week.

“This whole season boiled down to one bad week. If you take that week out of our schedule or replace it with just one win, then we were headed to the playoffs.”
It was a totally different game the last time these two teams met in Tupelo. The two teams totaled 20 runs and the Lady Tigers won 11-9.

Hitting was the difference in this game as the Lady Tigers only had two hits and the Lady Golden Wave had five.

“This game was totally different than the last time we played them. Neither of us could hit. They were ready for us to hit it to the fence because in Tupelo we went out swinging. They were ready for us to hit the long ball and they should’ve brought everybody in the infield.”

It was a defensive battle and the game was scoreless until the bottom of the sixth.

“The defense did a really good job. They have been our main crutch all year as far as being able to count on them game in and game out.”

Pitcher Christa Brown hit a double with two outs. Shortstop Amanda Ivy followed with a double scoring Brown and picking up an RBI.

Five seniors were honored with Brown, Meri Morgan Fortune, Lauren Calvert, Lindsay Calvert and Crystal Contreras.

“One word that comes to my mind is sadness because as coach you think about I’m losing my pitcher, first baseman, second baseman, third baseman and left fielder. But it’s much more than that. Every year you feel the exact same way and you pray that somebody steps up and tries to fill some of their shoes.”

“These girls have been with me for so long and are such a big part of me and Coach Hicks. I’m thankful they’ve played for me and I’ve gotten to know them. You couldn’t have hand picked from that school a finer group of girls.”

The Lady Tigers end the season tonight in non-conference action at Strayhorn beginning at 5:30 p.m.