In their area softball tournament Wednesday and Thursday in Excel, the T.R. Miller Lady Tigers went 2-2 to finish as area runner-up and clinch a spot in the South regionals in Gulf Shores next week.
The Lady Tigers opened the tournament Wednesday with a 10-6 win over Clarke County to improve to 21-11 overall.
In the second game Wednesday, the Lady Tigers lost to Excel 7-4 to fall into the losers bracket and drop their overall record to 21-12.
In the losers bracket Thursday, the Lady Tigers matched up again with Clarke County and had to rally to take a 7-4 win and improve to 22-12. With the win, the Lady Tigers matched up with Excel again needing to win twice to claim the area tournament championship.
Against Excel, the Lady Tigers lost 10-2 to finish as runner-up and drop their overall record to 22-13.
In the games against Clarke County and Excel Thursday, the Lady Tigers had to use their third string pitcher Laurel Billy after starter Miranda Smith and second pitcher Taylor Guthrie were injured and could not pitch.
“We had a close game against Clarke County in game one, but we were able to open up a 10-2 lead in the middle innings,” Lady Tiger head coach Greg White said. “We got a little sloppy in the end and let them back in the game but we were able to make plays when we needed to get the win.”
Against Excel, White said it was good high school softball game.
“Unfortunately we came out on the short end,” White said. “We came out and scored some quick and got a lead and Excel had some timely hits to get back in the game. Miranda and their pitchers pitched good games. It all came down to some timely hits in the end. They had a few more than we did and that was the difference. We has to put it behind us and be ready to play again Friday and give ourselves a chance to advance to the next round.”
Against Clarke County, White said his team was down by a point and one out away from their season being over and they find a way to win.
“This game is a perfect example of why you never quit,” White said. “You’ve got to keep playing. You play your hardest until the last out is made and you live with the results. We are fortunate that the results came out in our favor. Some people will want to call it luck but I’m one of those who believe that you make your own luck through hard work and dedication. These kids showed a lot of toughness and character by not giving up and hanging in there until the very end and finding a way to win the ball game.”
Against Excel Thursday night, White said his team had a good game going for a while. “We were down 4-2 going into the fifth and Excel puts a string of hits together and we commit a couple of errors and we put ourselves in a bad position,” White said. “I thought we continued to fight and play hard but we just couldn’t get the hits when we needed them.”
White said he was pleased with Laurel Billy’s performance on the mound Thursday.
“What a great job by Laurel today,” White said. “Laurel has pitched in three varsity games all season and she found out at 1:30 p.m. today that, due to an injury to our starting pitcher, she would be the starting pitcher for us in our biggest game of the season. She showed no emotion or fear. She pitched well and kept us in the game when our bats were not very hot. I’m extremely proud of her.”
As for making it to the regionals in Gulf Shores, White said that was a team goal.
“We have a list of team goals that we display in our dugout every game,” White said. “One of the goals on that list is to get to the regional tournament in Gulf Shores. We have done that and now we have an opportunity to play some more softball. There are 32 teams in each classification that get to practice softball next week and we are one of them. We are going to go down there and give it all we have and see what happens.”

TRM 10, Clarke County 6
A seven-run fourth inning for the T.R. Miller Lady Tigers paved the way to a 10-6 win over Clarke County in their first game of the area tournament Wednesday in Excel.
Clarke County led 2-0 after the top of the second only to see T.R. Miller score three runs in the bottom of the inning to take a 3-2 lead.
In the bottom of the fourth, T.R. Miller scored seven runs to take a 10-2 lead. Clarke County would add three in the sixth and one in the seven to cut the lead to 10-6, but T.R. Miller hung on for the win.
Miranda Smith earned the win on the mound for the Lady Tigers going seven innings and allowing seven hits, six runs, one earned, walked one, struck out three and hit two.
At the plate for T.R. Miller, Leah Brundidge was 2-for-4 and Taylor Guthrie was 1-for-4 with two RBIs.
Emily Waters and Audrey Hamric were both 1-for-4 and Kristen Booker was 1-for-2 with two RBIs.

Excel 7, TRM 4
After scoring four runs in the bottom of the first inning, Excel scored seven unanswered to defeat T.R. Miller 7-4.
Excel scored one run in the third, three in the fourth, two in the sixth and one in the seventh to get the win by three.
Smith took the loss on the mound going seven innings allowing 13 hits, seven runs, five earned, walked four, struck out two and hit one.
At the plate for the Lady Tigers, Brundidge was 1-for-3 and Natalie Neal was 1-for-4. Guthrie had one RBI along with Waters who was 1-for-4.
Hamric was 2-for-4 and Leigh Margaret Bostic was 2-for-4. Takeysia McFugerson was 1-for-4 in the loss.

TRM 7, Clarke County 4
In a rematch with Clarke County Thursday, the Lady Tigers scored four runs in the seventh inning with two outs to turn a 4-3 deficit into a 7-4 win and stay alive in the tournament.
Clarke County led 1-0 after the third inning and 2-0 after the fourth. After T.R. Miller took the lead 3-2 in the sixth inning, Clarke County responded with two of their own to take a 4-3.
Down by one and two outs on the board, the Lady Tigers got a single, a walk, back-to-back RBI singles, and RBI double and benefited from an error to take a 7-4 lead and hold Clarke County in the bottom of the seventh to take the win.
Laurel Billy earned the win on the mound for T.R. Miller pitching seven innings allowing four hits, four runs, one earned, walked none, hit two and struck out three.
At the plate, Brundidge was 2-for-4 along with Guthrie who had two RBIs.
Waters was 1-for-4 with one RBI and Hamric was 1-for-4 with a double and one RBI.
Bostic was 2-for-4 with two RBIs and Booker was 2-for-3.

Excel 10, TRM 2
Having already clinched a spot to Gulf Shores, the Lady Tiger met up with Excel in the championship game needing to win twice, but lost 10-2.
T.R. Miller scored one run each in the fourth and fifth innings while Excel scored one in the second, three in the third and six in the fifth to get the win.
Billy took the loss going six innings allowing seven hits, 10 runs, four earned, walked five, struck out none and hit one.
At the plate, Brundidge was 2-for-4 and Guthrie was 1-for-3 with a triple. Hamric was 1-for-3 with one RBI and Bostic was 1-for-3 along with Booker.