The Ethel Tiger baseball team has started the 2017 season off with a 5-1 record, winning their first five games before falling to Central Holmes on Saturday 7-1.
The Tigers began the week with a 6-2 win over Central Holmes on Tuesday night and a 13-1, five inning win over Noxapater on Friday. The Tigers then traveled to Winona on Saturday where they defeated Water Valley 4-3 before hitting the road once again for an afternoon tilt with Central Holmes in Lexington.
In last Tuesday night’s 6-2 win over the Central Holmes Trojans, Tyson Steen got the start and pitched four innings yielding only four hits and one unearned run while striking out five and walking one. Brady Odom pitched the fifth and sixth innings allowing one earned run on three hits and two walks while striking out three. Hayden Burns pitched the seventh for the Tigers striking out all three batters he faced on just nine pitches.
The leading hitters for the Tigers were Hayden Beall with two doubles and a single and four RBI; Burns with two singles, one run scored and one RBI; Hayes Wood with a double and one run scored; Alex Schuster with a double, single, one run scored and one RBI; Cody Weeks with a single; Alex McMullen with one run scored; Tanner Reeves with one run scored and Noah Steen with one run scored.
The Tigers traveled to Noxapater on Friday night and Burns drew the start, yielding only one unearned run on two hits and one walk while striking out eight hitters. Tyson Steen came on for the final inning and struck out all three batters he faced.
The leading hitters for the Tigers were Tyson Steen with a home run and a single with two runs scored and four RBI; Beall with a single, one run scored and an RBI; Burns with three runs scored and two RBI; Wood with two singles, two runs scored and two RBI; Schuster with two singles, three runs scored and an RBI; Blake Wilkinson with one run scored; Odom with a single, one run scored and one RBI and Weeks with two singles, one run scored and one RBI.
On Saturday morning the Tigers traveled to Winona to take on the Water Valley Blue Devils and Tyson Steen drew the start. Steen pitched four innings, yielding three runs (two unearned) on two hits and two walks while striking out two. Schuster pitched the final three innings for the Tigers to pick up the win and surrendered only two hits, walking none and striking out two Blue Devils.
The leading hitters for the Tigers against the Blue Devils were Tyson Steen with a single and a double; Beall with a single and two runs scored with an RBI; Wood with a single; Schuster with one run scored; Wilkinson with a single and an RBI and Reeves with a single and an RBI.
The Tigers then loaded the bus and traveled south down Interstate 55 to take on the Central Holmes Trojans in Lexington. Wilkinson, who took the loss, got the start for the Tigers and pitched three innings, giving up five runs (two earned) on four hits and two walks while striking out two Trojans. Beall pitched the final three innings of the contest and surrendered two earned runs on three hits and two walks while striking out one batter.
The offensive leaders for the Tigers were Wood with a single; Schuster with a single; Wilkinson with a run scored; Reeves with a run scored; Odom with a single and Cam Campbell with a double.
The Ethel Tigers will be back in action on Friday when they host McAdams at 6 p.m. and Saturday when they host Leake Central at 1 p.m. The Tigers will participate in the Spring Break Tourney in Meridian at Sykes Park on Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday of next week.
