Greenville drops 12th in a row
Published 12:00 am Saturday, April 8, 2006
The first two innings were a nightmare that Greenville softball coach Donna Sunnycalb hoped was just a figment of her imagination.
Only it wasn't.
Pleasant Home jumped out to an 8-0 lead in the second inning and cruised the rest of the way to hand the Tigers their 12th straight loss in a 14-4 decision at the Greenville Softball Complex on Tuesday.
With each consecutive loss, it just seems to take more air out of a downtrodden Tiger team. But Sunnycalb says that her team has not given up on the season.
“They scored two runs in the seventh inning Tuesday with two outs left in the game. If they had given up on the game they would not have scored those two runs, so I don't think they have given up on us,” Sunnycalb said. “To score those runs that late in the game says that our girls don't quit.”
But it was hard for the Tigers to overcome an 8-0 lead after two innings.
Pleasant Home finished the game scattering eight hits, while Greenville managed five.
The Tigers scored their first run of the game in the bottom of the first when Brittany White led off the frame with a double. She then advanced to third on a sacrifice bunt by Danita Crenshaw before being driven home on a one-out sacrifice fly by Tara Gibson.
Greenville added another run in the second inning when Kendra Mitchell, who reached on a single, scored on an Eagle error.
The Tigers' final two runs of the game were scored on a Mikki Harris single to right field to send Tamesha Womack and Crenshaw across the plate.
While Sunnycalb is convinced that her team has not given up on the season, she said that most of the work done now in practice is for next year.
“We are taking baby steps,” she said. “With the way things are going now, you can't help but to look ahead to next year. So we are getting them ready to play. I am seeing little things that they are now doing right, but I hate to make the excuse that we are so young.”
But a roster does not lie. Aside from the four seniors on the team, Sunnycalb has just one junior and one sophomore on the squad. The rest are freshmen and a few eighth-graders.
Greenville, which is 0-1 in the area, was supposed to face Charles Henderson Thursday in another area game, but it was postponed. A makeup date has yet to be determined, so the Tigers' next game will be Tuesday against Catholic High of Montgomery.