Douglas High junior Haylie Pledger claps on second base earlier this season. Pledger pitched a complete game against Carson High on Saturday, helping Douglas win and secure a No. 3 seed in the Class 5A North tournament.
Photo by Ron Harpin.
Douglas High School softball doubled up Carson in the regular season finale Saturday with wins of 7-5 and 17-3 (6 innings).
In the first game, Annie Hill was 3-for-4 with two RBIs and two runs scored for Douglas.
Ava Gildea, Cam McLelland and Peyton Simpson all doubled in game one. McLelland and Simpson both drove in two RBIs.
In the second game, Gildea crushed a two-run home run in the third inning over the center field wall to give Douglas a 5-0 lead.
All but one Tiger hitter recorded an RBI in the second game.
Marissa McLelland finishes the spring with a .519 batting average – second on the squad behind only her sister Cam – which includes 54 hits and nine doubles.
“This season I have mainly been focused on what I can do to help the team get to where we want to be,” said McLelland. “We’re pretty confident. We’re not taking any game for granted. We’re going into each game with the same mentality.”
In the circle in game two, Haylie Pledger had nine strikeouts while allowing five hits and no walks.
Pledger boasts a 7-2 record with a 3.36 ERA and 67 strikeouts to 18 walks.
“A lot of my spins have been working really well and I think the support from my infield has really helped,” said Pledger.
UP NEXT: Douglas (21-8, 12-4) enters the Class 5A North regional tournament as the No. 3 seed and hosted No. 6 Damonte Ranch (9-15, 6-10) on Tuesday. Both teams will play today regardless of result. The Tigers beat the Mustangs 10-0 and 13-2 in league games this season.
“We’re locked in at (No.) 3 and we know we can beat one and two,” said Douglas head coach Allison Meyer. “The girls have high energy and everyone is on the same page and ready to go dominate at regionals. … We can go beat anyone anywhere.”
TIGER BASEBALL OPENS REGIONAL PLAY
Douglas High’s baseball began Class 5A North regional play as the No. 7 seed Tuesday, traveling to take on No. 2 Reno.
The Tigers will get a second contest today regardless of result.