Published: March 26, 2008 10:37 am         

Ethel Tigers get two big district wins

After getting blistered on the beach, the Ethel Tigers returned to district action with two big wins.

Last week the Tigers beat Nanih Waiya 11-6 and South Leake 13-0. This week Ethel, now 3-0 in league play, was set to host Noxapater on Tuesday before hosting Edinburg on Friday.

The Tigers started the week with a good Nanih Waiya team.

Tigers went into the sixth inning up 3-1, but before long they found themselves down 6-3. In the bottom of the sixth, after three straight singles, Daniel Power hit a base hit to left that ended up being a 360-foot journey around the bases, courtesy of a three-base error by Nanih Waiya.

By the time everything settled down Ethel was ahead 11-6 going into the seventh inning. Aaron Blaine and Matthew Morgan pitched excellent for the Tigers, with the Ethel bats getting six hits in the sixth inning led by Hunter Dempsey, Tyler McKinley and John Dees. Cye McKinney also had a hit for the Tigers in the unforgettable sixth inning.

On Thursday, South Leake came to Ethel and left before the bus cooled down. Ethel batted three times, scoring 13 runs when South Leake had enough.

Dempsey pitched for the Tigers throwing a no-hitter in four innings of work. The Tigers bats stayed hot with most of the Tigers getting one or two hits in the ball game.

Ethel is now 9-8 overall but more importantly 3-0 in the district.

"Its a very competitive district this year in 1A district 6," said Ethel head coach Chris Schuster. "Every win is a big win."

After this week's two league games the Tigers visit South Leake and Forest on Saturday before facing McAdams on Tuesday.