Lady Tigers continue to lead SIC

The Mountain Home Lady Tigers continued their march through Southern Idaho Conference 4A softball opponents, beating Bishop Kelly and Emmett last week to improve to 6-0 in conference play.

Mtn. Home 10

Bishop Kelly 1

Mountain Home jumped out to an early 3-0 lead in the first inning and put it out of reach with a five-run fourth as the Lady Tigers won their seventh straight ballgame, beating Bishop Kelly 10-1.

Nickayla Skinner gave up just one run on one hit while striking out 16. She helped herself out at the plate with two doubles and an RBI.

Ashley Christiansen had three hits and drove in two runs. Lindsay Sessions, in her first game up from the JV squad, had two hits and two RBIs. Arlene Futch and Breann Christiansen also had two hits, Futch had an RBI, and Kelsie Hopkins and Tiffany Smith also had hits.

Mountain Home Lady Tiger softball coach Chris Asbury was pleased with the win.

"It was a big win. BK's always a tough test. People want to say it's a rebuilding year (for them), but believe it or not, they are the defending state champions and they come to play every day. They're a good team and they'll continue to get better. I'm sure we'll see them at district and possibly at state, so yeah, it's a big win."

Mtn. Home 3

Emmett 0

In a showdown of conference unbeatens, Nickayla Skinner won the pitching duel with McKenna Mattingly, as the Lady Tigers won 3-0 at Emmett last Thursday.

The Lady Tigers made the most of their six hits, scoring single runs in the third, fifth and seventh innings. Breann Christiansen had two of the hits, Arlene Futch, Lindsay Sessions, Kelsie Hopkins and Nickayla Skinner also had hits.

Skinner shut Emmett out on two hits, striking out 11.

"It was definitely a big test. They're for sure the best team we've faced so far this year," said Coach Asbury after the game. "They hit the ball hard -- only a couple hits to show for it -- but our defense was tested and we didn't make any errors and made a lot of great defensive plays."

The win improved Mountain Home to 8-1 on the season and 6-0 in conference. They were at Middleton Tuesday to finish the first round of conference play and host Nampa on Thursday at 5 p.m.

The Mountain Home Lady Tigers JV saw their win streak snap at seven last week when they lost to Bishop Kelly, 6-5. The Lady Tigers did return to the win column Thursday at Emmett.

Bishop Kelly 6

Mtn. Home 5

Bishop Kelly scored a run in the top of the seventh to take the lead, and shut down Mountain Home in the bottom of the seventh to hand the Lady Tigers their first loss of the season, 6-5.

A three-run second inning brought Mountain Home back from a 2-0 deficit to lead, 3-2, but the Lady Knights answered with three in the fifth to go up, 5-3. Mountain Home made it, 5-4, with a run in the bottom of the fifth, and tied the game in the sixth.

Jennica Quintal and Hannah Barresi both had two hits for Mountain Home, Quintal had an RBI. Rachel Warila and Amanda Osborn both had hits and RBIs, and Casey Liercke and Jaclyn Lasuen also had hits. Blas Lord had nine strikeouts in four-plus innings pitching. Shelby Doerr took over in the fifth inning and had three strikeouts, but gave up two runs to suffer the loss.

Mtn. Home 11

Emmett 7

The Lady Tigers bounced back into the win column last Thursday at Emmett, downing the Lady Huskies, 11-7. A four-run seventh inning for Mountain Home helped them pull away for the win.

Modesty Labbe, Jennica Quintal, Shelby Doerr and Jaclyn Lasuen all had three hits for Mountain Home, Quintal had two RBIs, and Labbe and Lasuen each had one. Blas Lord, Rachel Warila and Amanda Osborn each had two hits, Warila had three RBIs, Lord and Osborn both had one. Doerr went the distance for the win, striking out nine and walking eight.

"They bounced back great," said Lady Tiger JV softball coach Sandi Bish. "They're working on our weaknesses right now, and they're really focused on bettering themselves with our sticks."