Lady Tigers finish third at Snyder Invitational

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  • Snyder shortstop Hailey Morris gets in defensive position during Saturday’s semifinal game against Shallowater at the Snyder Softball Invitational. The Lady Tigers lost to the Fillies 7-5, but they came back to claim third place by defeating Windthorst.
    Snyder shortstop Hailey Morris gets in defensive position during Saturday’s semifinal game against Shallowater at the Snyder Softball Invitational. The Lady Tigers lost to the Fillies 7-5, but they came back to claim third place by defeating Windthorst.
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Snyder fell short of reaching its goal, but may have gained momentum for the start of District 2-4A play.
The Lady Tigers defeated Windthorst 6-5 to finish third in the gold bracket at the Snyder Softball Invitational Saturday.
After starting Saturday with a 10-0 shutout of the Colorado City JV, Snyder lost to Shallowater 7-5 in the semifinals.
Stephenville won the gold bracket by defeating Shallowater. Abilene Wylie was the consolation champion and Fort Stockton defeated Forsan for the silver bracket championship. Wall won the consolation title while Tahoka was the bronze bracket champion.
“I believe the girls were hungry for wins,” Lady Tigers head coach Liz Kimbell said. “On Saturday, they knew we would be facing a JV team in the first game.  I decided to play the girls that don’t usually get a chance to play, but still keep it competitive.”
Snyder won five of six games in the tournament.
Snyder 10, Colorado City JV
Snyder came out swinging while Nicole Clark and Claudia Gutierrez combined to pitch a shutout.
Hailey Morris hit a three-run home run in the bottom of the first inning. The Lady Tigers added two runs on Shayde Millican’s sacrifice fly and a RBI single by Cholee James for the 5-0 lead.
In the second inning, Morris hit a RBI single and Coy later drove three runs home on a triple. Coy scored the inning’s final run on a groundout.
Clark allowed one hit with five strikeouts in two innings. Gutierrez pitched the third inning.
Snyder hitters — Hailey Morris single, home run, 4 RBIs; Cholee James single, double, 1 RBI, 1 stolen base; Nicole Clark 2 singles, 1 stolen base; Cailey Coy triple, 3 RBIs, 1 stolen base; Telsa Rinehart single, 2 stolen bases; Megan Leatherwood single, 1 stolen base; Shayde Millican 2 RBIs.
Snyder pitchers — Nicole Clark (3-0) 1 hit, 0 runs, 5 strikeouts, 2 walks in 2 innings; Claudia Gutierrez 3 hits, 0 runs, 1 strikeout in 1 inning.
Shallowater 7, Snyder 5
Shallowater scored four runs in the bottom of the fourth to defeat the Lady Tigers.
Snyder took the lead in the top of the first when Megan Leatherwood walked, advanced on a sacrifice bunt and scored on Morris’ double. The Fillies answered with three runs in the bottom of the inning for a 3-1 lead.
The Lady Tigers regained the lead in the second. Coy reached on an error and Alyssa Benitez hit a single. After a double steal, Bailey Garcia’s two-run single tied the game at 3-3. Garcia later scored on a single by Morris.
In the top of the fourth, Coy hit a double and later scored on a groundout.
“We had a lot of time between games and I don’t think we were mentally and physically ready to play,” Kimbell said. “It was a mental and emotional  game. We have to learn to play through our emotions.”
Snyder hitters — Hailey Morris  single, double, 2 RBIs; Cailey Coy double, 2 stolen bases; Bailey Garcia single, 2 RBIs, 1 stolen base;  Alyssa Benitez single, 2 stolen bases.
Snyder pitchers — Cholee James 1 hit, 3 earned runs, 2 walks in .1 inning; Megan Leatherwood (4-4) 10 hits 4 runs, 2 earned runs, 1 strikeout, 1 walk in 3.2 innings.
Snyder 6, Windthorst 5
Snyder rallied for three runs in the third and held off Windthorst in the third-place game.
After Windthorst scored four runs in the top of the first inning, the Lady Tigers responded with three runs in the bottom of the inning. Millican hit an RBI double while Gutierrez drove home one run on a triple. Gutierrez stole home to reduce Windthorst’s lead to 4-3.
The Lady Tigers took the lead in the third. Morris and Milligan hit back-to-back doubles to tie the game at 4-4. Millican scored the go-ahead run on a double by Gutierrez. Jasmine Montoya’s double scored Gutierrez for the 6-4 lead.
Windthorst scored one run in the fifth.
“The girls refocused and played well,” Kimbell said. “I hope that will continue.”
The Lady Tigers (10-10) will conclude the non-district schedule at Lubbock Coronado at 7 p.m. Tuesday.

Snyder hitters — Hailey Morris 2 singles, double; Claudia Gutierrez double, triple, 2 RBIs, 2 stolen bases; Shayde Millican 2 doubles, 2 RBIs; Jasmine Montoya double, 1 RBI; Cholee James single.
Snyder pitchers — Megan Leatherwood 1 hit, 4 runs, 1 walk in .1 innings; Cholee James (3-6) 7 hits 1 earned run, 1 strikeout, 1 walk in 4.2 innings.