Lady Tigers chalk up wins against Middleton, Nampa

The Mountain Home Lady Tigers picked up two more conference softball wins last week before losing a non-conference game to Jerome.

Mountain Home 15, Middleton 3 (5 innings)

Mountain Home took advantage of wild pitches on the mound by Middleton to run to a 15-3 conference softball win over the Lady Vikings after just five innings last Tuesday.

Middleton's starting pitcher had problems getting the ball over the plate, walking 10 batters and hitting one in two innings of work as the Lady Tigers scored six runs in each of the first two innings take a 12-1 lead.

Middleton scored two in the third to make a dent in the run deficit, but the Lady Tigers pushed across three more runs in the top of the fifth to take the win.

Despite the lopsided win, Lady Tigers Coach Chris Asbury saw some areas they need to clean up.

"We got out on them quick, but unfortunately I don't think we were quite as composed as I'd like," he said. "They gave us a lot of runs tonight, but I'm little disappointed on our performance in the batters' box."

While both teams had six hits, Mountain Home was aided by a total of 14 walks and a hit batter.

Madison Siefferman and Courtney Christiansen both had two hits with Siefferman knocking in four runs with another by Christiansen. Rachel Warila had a triple and an RBI, and Krissy Elliott had a two-run double. Madi Karst and Ashley Sessions also had RBI while pitcher Heather Adams scattered six hits and struck out three to get the win as she improved to 5-1 on the season.

Mountain Home 4, Nampa 3

The Lady Tigers built up a 4-1 lead while bolstering its defense to preserve a 4-3 conference softball win at home over Nampa last Thursday at Memmelaar Field.

Courtney Christiansen brought home Madison Siefferman with a hit in the bottom of the third to put Mountain Home on the board. After Nampa tied the game in the top of the fourth, the Lady Tigers scored three runs in the bottom of the inning, including two off a hit by Krissy Elliott.

Nampa scored single runs in the fifth and sixth but was denied the tying run on a defensive play from Madison Siefferman to Ashley Sessions at the plate for the out.

The victory was "a very gritty win," Asbury said after the game. "They had the bases loaded at one point with nobody out and only gave up a run, and we cut down another run -- the potential game-tying run -- in the sixth inning at home plate on a great play by Siefferman and Sessions to hold that one run lead."

Despite the team's inexperience coming into the season, "we've been in a lot of tight situations in seven games that's really brought our maturity along, and I'm really very proud of that," the coach said.

Madison Siefferman and Courtney Christiansen both had two hits, including a triple and a run. Rachel Warila and Krissy Elliott also had hits with Elliott knocking in two runs.

Heather Adams gave up nine hits and struck out six to get the win as she improved to 6-1 on the season.

Jerome 11, Mountain Home 4

The Lady Tigers had their five-game winning streak snapped Friday at home when the visiting Lady Tigers from Jerome beat Mountain Home in an 11-4 non-conference game at Memmelaar Field.

Madi Karst got the start for Mountain Home, her first of the season, and was rocked for nine runs in the first four innings and 11 for the game.

Mountain Home got nine hits but only scored four runs during Jerome's win.

"I thought Madi Karst pitched an exceptional game for her first outing of the season," Asbury said. "We just didn't play any defense behind her, booting the ball around and committing eight errors for the game."

Karst and Courtney Christiansen both had two hits for Mountain Home with Christiansen hitting a double and a run. Madison Siefferman, Kaitlyn Sheehy, Alex Stenvold, Jacci Cristobal and Krissy Elliott also had hits with Siefferman earning a triple and an RBI. Cristobal finished the game with a double and an RBI.

The Lady Tigers take a 6-2 overall record to the Idaho Sporting Goods Tourney this Friday and Saturday at Borah High School. They open 2 p.m. Friday against Madison and play Pocatello at 4 p.m. They play Fruitland at 2 p.m. Saturday in Meridian and wrap up the day against Borah at 5 p.m.