By By BRUCE HIXON – Sports Editor
They left areas that need to be improved, but the T.R. Miller Lady Tigers softball team also had plenty of positives to build from in their 12-5 season-opening victory over the visiting Straughn Lady Tigers Thursday.
The victory made new T.R. Miller coach Greg White a winner in his debut with the program.
The Lady Tigers made White's debut a lot smoother by lashing out 15 hits to go along with their double digit run total. That figure included a perfect four-for-four by sophomore second baseman Leslie Nalty and a three-hit day by senior centerfielder Haley Rilling.
After Straughn plated a pair of unearned runs in the top of the first inning against Lady Tigers hurler Leigh Cooper, T.R. Miller took control of the game with nine unanswered runs over its first three at-bats.
The host Lady Tigers tied the game in the bottom of the first on a two-run single by Nalty and took the lead for good with a six-run second inning. Nalty had her second two-run single in as many innings, but the biggest blow was a two-run triple by third baseman Catherine Layton.
T.R. Miller went up 9-2 in the third inning when Terri Lynne Peacock's RBI groundout scored Taelor Robinson.
Straughn got two of those runs back in the top of the fourth, but the host Lady Tigers countered with three in the bottom half of the frame to go up 12-4 on an RBI single by Robinson and a two-run error on an infield grounder hit by Emily Layton.
Cooper scattered six hits and struck out three in a complete game victory.
The debut of the T.R. Miller junior varsity program had an inauspicious beginning, as the Lady Tigers dropped a 12-0 decision and were no-hit in the process.
The Lady Tigers are off until Friday when they open up play at the Andalusia Tournament. T.R. Miller's junior varsity hosts W.S. Neal Tuesday for a 4 p.m. contest.
At T.R. Miller
Straughn 200 200 1 – 5 6 3
T.R. Miller 261 300 X – 12 15 3