Douglas gets split and wins Sierra League title

There was no shrieking or dogpile on the field. In fact, it was hard to tell that Douglas High School had just won its first Sierra League softball title since 2004.

Stephanie Harper scattered eight hits and Rebecca Trute and Maddy Gilbert delivered run-scoring hits to give the Tigers a 4-1 second-game win and a split in Thursday's doubleheader.

In the opener, Daria Leid pitched a five-hitter and Carson snapped a 1-all tie with three seventh-inning runs en route to a 4-1 win.

Douglas finishes the regular season with a 16-5 record. Carson's season is still in limbo, however. The Senators finished with a 13-8 record. To make the playoffs, the Senators need South Tahoe to get a split in today's doubleheader against Damonte Ranch.

However, one could tell by the demeanor of Carson's players and coaches that they feel their season is over.

"I'm proud of these guys," Douglas coach Andy Mitchell said. "There were a couple of times that we were not playing up to expectations, but the girls kept working hard.

"Steph pitched two strong games. She's not overpowering. She has to hit her spots. The defense was strong in the second game."

Both games pitted Harper against Carson's Daria Leid. Harper allowed 16 hits and four earned runs on the day. Leid also allowed 16 hits and just three earned runs which earned praise from Vickrey.

"Leid did a phenomenal job," Vickrey said. "I couldn't ask any more of her. She showed me a lot of maturity this week. Hopefully she's ready to step in and be the workhorse next season.

"She (Harper) has never dominated people, but she dominates hitting her spots. We always have a tough time with her."

In this series, Vickrey had his players crowd the plate, daring Harper to throw inside and trying to take the break of her pitches away by moving up in the batter's box.

The strategy worked to a degree. Carson collected eight hits in each game, but had trouble coming up with clutch hits as evidenced by the 21 runners left on base for the two games.

Carson nicked Harper for a quick run in the first inning of the opener when Krista Mattice was hit by a pitch and scored on Lauren Knorzer's double in the right-centerfield gap.

Douglas tied the game in the second when Morgan Blomstrom walked, moved to second on Mia Townsell's sacrifice bunt and scored on Mackenzie Cauley's double. Cauley rounded second too far and was tagged out.

The score remained tied until the top of the seventh when Carson broke it open with three runs and three hits.

Krista Mattice drove in what proved to be the game-winning run with a double just inside the line at third scoring Withrow, who had reached on a walk. Mattice squared around to show bunt and pulled back and hit the ball.

"We wanted to move the corners up," Mattice said. "They were expecting a bunt. That was probably my biggest (hit) at Carson especially when you consider the situation."

Mattice advanced to third on the throw home and scored on Knorzer's sacrifice fly to make it 3-1.

Despite the first-game setback, Mitchell was pleased.

"We were just crushing the ball in the first game," Mitchell said. "Everything we hit we hit right at them. We just had one bad inning. In the second game, we just kept hitting the ball."

In the second game, Douglas got on the board in the second when Mia Townsell doubled and scored on Trute's single.

The Tigers made it 2-0 in the third when Emily Weaver walked and moved to second on Gilbert's sacrifice bunt. Katrina Morgan singled to right. Weaver had stopped coming around third, but was waved home when Lindsey Ashbaugh bobbled the ball.

Douglas added an unearned run in the fourth, taking advantage of miscues by Mattice and Hannah Shaw, and got one more in the seventh on Gilbert's single.

The second game proved to be a frustrating for the Senators, who squandered a couple of good scoring opportunities.

In the second, Carson loaded the bases with one out, but Harper retired Shaw on a short fly to center and struck Withrow out looking to end the inning.

Trailing 4-0 in the top of the seventh, Carson loaded the bases on singles by Mattice and Vondrak plus a hit batsman. Leid walked to force in a run, but Megan Hein grounded into a 5-2-3 double play to end the game.