Tigers vs. Panthers
April 9, 1998

W 15-1


The Tiger's Den Hello and welcome to The Tiger's Den!
Today's guest columnist is
Tigger...

Hoo hoo hoo!! It's me again, Tigger (that's T - I - double GUH - RRRR). I am glad to be back reporting on the superriffic Tiggers! Coach Rodney told me that the Tiggers won handily tonight, bouncing back from a three-game losing skid. And you remember how much I love bouncing! Coach Rodney said I'm the official bounce-back reporter for the Tiggers -- I'll take that job! Here are the game highlights.

Coach Rodney started the Tiggers in a hole, striking out the first two batters on super-ugly pitches. It was time for the Tiggers to rally with two outs and no one on in the first inning. Carla stepped to the plate and crushed a line drive homerun to right field! The stands erupted with excitement as Carla crossed the plate with her second homer of the year. Rachel D. hit a single and Caitlin knocked a hit. With two runners on, Alissa cracked a line drive hit to the right side of the field. That drove in Rachel D.. Melissa stepped up and smacked a hit to drive in Caitlin. With 3 runs in and still 2 outs, Kristen hunkered down and knocked in the final 2 runs! Wow!! A two-out rally by the Tiggers put them up 5-0!

In the bottom of the first, the Tiggers trotted out their newest starting pitcher, Melissa. Melissa got to work right away, striking out the first Panther. After another strikeout, the Panther batter lofted a fly ball to the left side of the infield. Carla floated under it and confidently snagged it to end the inning. Tiggers go to the second inning up 5-0 !

In the top of the second, the Tiggers kept up their torrid pace of hitting. Michelle cracked a hit to get us started. Then Sarah smashed a huge triple to the outfield, driving in Michelle! A strikeout followed, and Lisa stepped to the plate. A few bunt attempts and a few fake bunts got the defense confused. Then Lisa lifted a popup single. Carla hit a triple to drive in Sarah and Lisa. Rachel D. hit a pop fly that the Panther pitcher made a nice play on. Caitlin followed with a two-out RBI single. Alissa got hit by a pitch and Melissa got the last RBI! Another 5-run inning by the Tiggers -- what terrrrrrrific offense!

The Tiggers hit the field for the second inning. Melissa added to her stellar pitching performance with two strikeouts and a nice snag of a line drive. In between, a Panther hit a long homerun. But the Tiggers stayed tough defensively and went to the third inning sporting a 10-1 lead.

Player of the game honors were still up in the air as the Tiggers got another at-bat. Kristen led off with her second hit of the night. Michelle thought that was a good idea, so she got her second hit with a sharp single to third base. Sarah enjoyed her triple so much, she lashed a long line drive down the right field line. This time Sarah didn't want to stop at third. She stretched it into a 3-run homerun. It was the second hit for Sarah and the second homer for the Tiggers! Rachel F. joined the hit parade by hitting her trademark screaming single to left field. Then Lisa stepped to the plate. After a couple bunt attempts, Lisa worked the count to 3-2. Coach Rodney came in to pitch and Lisa absolutely crushed a huge triple to dead center field!! It was high and it was long -- and Lisa did some good baserunning to beat the throw at third base! Carla followed with her third hit of the night to drive in Lisa. The parents were so giddy about this awesome hitting performance that they broke into an impromptu version of "Happy Birthday" for Lisa! This was too much fun -- the Tiggers score another 5 runs and take a 15-1 lead!

In the bottom of third, Melissa struck out two batters and grabbed a come-backer to get another out. Game over! Tiggers win 15-1 in their most incredible performance of the year!

To understand how well the Tiggers played, you should note that of the 10 Tiggers playing (Serena was cheering us on from the Garth Brooks concert), every single Tigger got a hit! And 8 of the 10 Tiggers had at least two hits! Two homeruns and three triples meant that the Tiggers really had their power working too! But who was the player of the game? Incredible pitching and defense by Melissa and outstanding hitting by every Tigger made it tough. But Lisa definitely deserved the honors tonight. Two hits, including the highest and longest triple of the year, definitely made Lisa tonight's Top Tiger! And it made it even better that today was Lisa's birthday!! Congratulations Lisa!

T T F N !!!

-- Tigger  (click here to find out more about me; click here to hear my Tigger song!)

Tigger!