After a disastrous start and a 13-1 loss in the first game of the South Regional softball tournament against Slocomb Friday in Gulf Shores, the T.R. Miller Lady Tiger softball team found themselves in the losers bracket and needing to win out to advance to the state finals.

Through four innings of play in their second game of the day against Headland, all seemed well as the Lady Tigers built a 2-0 lead at the end of the top of the fourth inning.

From there, things fell apart as Headland scored three unanswered runs on three hits and three Lady Tiger errors to down T.R. Miller 3-2 and eliminated the Lady Tigers.

The loss for the Lady Tigers ended their season with a 23-5 record.

Headland scored two runs in the bottom of the fourth to tie the game at 2-2 before scoring one in the bottom of the sixth. The game winning run in the bottom of the sixth inning for Headland came on a leadoff batter error, followed by a sacrifice bunt and a fielder’s choice to give the Lady Rams the one run win over the Lady Tigers.

Headland went on to qualify as the 3A South Regional runner-up to Straughn as both advanced to the state finals tournament in Montgomery.

“After the way we played in game one, I was proud that the girls had enough pride in them to bounce back and play the way they are capable of,” T.R. Miller Lady Tiger head coach Greg White said. “Taylor came back and pitched well and the defense made several plays in that game to keep Headland off the board for a few innings. We held a 2-0 lead for several innings and than we had a couple of untimely errors that allowed them to tie the score and eventually get the lead. The bottom line is the game came down to a couple of plays here and there and they made a few more than we did. We played extremely hard but came up a little short. When the girls play with that much heart, give that kind of effort, I can live with the outcome.”

After being held to one hit in the opening loss to Slocomb, T.R. Miller had four hits in the game two loss.

Leah Brundidge led with a 2-for-3 day at the plate with a triple and one RBI.

Takeysia McFugerson was 1-for-3 and Kristen Booker was 1-for-2.

Taylor Guthrie took the loss on the mound as she went six innings and allowed three runs, one earned, on five hits, walked two and struck out two and hit one batter.

T.R. Miller had four big base running mistakes in the game with one being thrown out at home, one at third, and one picked off at second base, and one thrown out at second base.

T.R. Miller loses only two seniors from the 2010 in Sarah Lee and Janel McCorvey.

“The season obviously didn’t end the way we would have liked it to, but these girls have nothing to hang their heads about,” White said. “We won a school record 23 games, lost only five, and won the area championship for the first time since 2006. As I have said before, this is a great bunch of kids that doesn’t mind working hard and doing the things they need to do to give themselves an opportunity to be successful.

“We will get back to work in the weight room, get ready for our summer workouts, play a few games over the summer at team camps and look forward to doing it again next year.”