Tiger softball falls in state opener

For just the second time this season, Douglas High School softball surrendered more than three runs in a single game.

An 8-3 loss to Coronado in the first round of the Class 5A state tournament means the defending champions route to another state title has become significantly more challenging.

The loss drops Douglas into the consolation bracket where they will take on Spanish Springs, after the Cougars fell to Palo Varde, 7-2. 

Douglas’ survival game will be played at 12:30 p.m. If the Tigers win, they’ll be back in action later that day at 5:30 p.m. against the loser of the winner’s bracket semifinal between Coronado and Palo Verde. 

Should Douglas make it into the state championship game Saturday, they’ll have to win twice in order to secure the state title.

COUGARS OUTMATCH TIGERS

Over the past three seasons, it’s been few and far between games where you can say Douglas softball has been outmatched.

"Coronado is a good team and they just flat out beat us," said Douglas head coach John Glover. 

That felt like the case Thursday as the two-seed from the South in Coronado scored in the first and third innings.

However, it was the fifth where the Cougars put the Tigers against the ropes.

Coronado and Douglas were tied 2-2 after four, but the Cougars plated four runs in the fifth to gain a dramatic lead.

A one-out error from the Tigers allowed the Cougars to get their first base runner of the frame.

Coronado followed with four straight singles, plating four runs to take a 6-2 lead.

In the sixth, a Cougar hit-by-pitch followed by a single led to an RBI groundout. A double to right made it 8-2 Coronado in the top of the sixth.

Douglas responded to the Cougars’ first two runs, driving in a run of its own in the bottom of the first and the bottom of the fourth.

However, the four-run fifth inning was too much for the Tiger bats to overcome.

In the first, Zora Simpson took advantage of Douglas drawing two walks with an RBI single to center field. Simpson finished the game 3-for-4 with the one RBI.

In the fourth, Peyton Simpson plated Shasta Lumsden on an RBI sacrifice fly to tie the game at 2-2.

Lumsden was courtesy running for Lilyann Lee, who led off the inning with a double.

Along with Zora Simpson, Lee was the only other Tiger hitter to have a multi-hit performance, going 3-for-4. She drove in an RBI in the seventh to bring the Tiger deficit to 8-3.

Coronado ended the game with 14 hits while Douglas posted 10.

"They made a lot of contact, they put the bat on the ball and they put the pressure on our defense," said Glover. "We hope we can get down the road and see them again."

The Tigers aren’t strangers to rebounding from losses after putting together a 16-game winning streak following their last defeat in early April to James Logan.

Douglas won 12 consecutive games after its loss in early March against Hamilton.

Glover said his message to the team after the loss was straightforward.

"Just to have a short memory," Glover said. "We have to get back to it and hopefully we can play a little better."