Lady Tigers derailed by Oak Grove in sectionals, 11-1

Their first appearance since 2012 in the Class 3 State Tournament didn’t go according to plan for the Nevada Lady Tiger softball team on Wednesday again the host Oak Grove Panthers.

Nevada was unable to dig out of a 4-0 first inning hole, succumbing to Oak Grove, 11-1, in a five inning run-rule. The sectional-round victory advances Oak Grove (22-3) to the quarterfinals, while Nevada’s season comes to a close at 16-15.

After a dominant turn in the district tournament, Nevada ace Maggie Leisure returned to the circle for Wednesday’s clash. Leisure, however, was undone by a rough bottom of the first, in which Oak Grove hit-around in the order, plating four runs on five hits and a walk — with a one-out bases-loaded infield error adding to Nevada’s woes.

“It’s tough (when) you get down in the first inning,” said Nevada head coach Tammy Holcomb during her postgame radio interview. “We had a couple of errors that could have (averted) a few of those (runs).”

A Leisure third inning RBI-single trimmed Nevada’s deficit to 4-1. Cameron Holcomb’s inning-ending fly out stranded runners in scoring position, snuffing out the Lady Tiger threat.

Oak Grove’s lead quickly widened, as Kelsey Webb led off the fourth with a solo blast. Leisure was unable to contain the damage as Tomi Lightle lifted a pitch towards Bailey Ast. The freshman right fielder made a diving attempt, and wasn’t able to get back to her feet as the ball rolled to the fence — resulting in an inside-the-park homerun. Oak Grove plated another run in the inning, and then added four in the fourth, accounting for the 10-run margin.

“(We) had several errors that came back to bite us,” continued Holcomb during the radio interview.

Nevada was held in check by Oak Grove starter Lilli Weir, who allowed just two hits, while striking out five across five frames of work. Leisure yielded nine runs (six earned) and 11 hits, while striking out a pair and walking one over three innings. Nevada sophomore Abby Harder replaced Leisure in the fourth, and allowed two earned runs on three hits.

“Maggie had a few pitches that I didn’t feel like were working like they did on Saturday,” noted Holcomb, in reference to Leisure’s district title game outing. “She was getting frustrated a little bit.”

Webb, meanwhile, had a big day at the plate, finishing 3-for-3 with a HR, three runs and an RBI.

“They have girls from the one-hole through the nine-hole who are not just looking to put it in play, but looking to hit it really hard,” said Holcomb of Oak Grove.

Concluded Holcomb: “Like we said to the girls, ‘excellent job.’ We were probably in a position today that a lot of people didn’t expect us to be in. That’s the drive that we saw from the girls from the beginning. We knew that they could put it all together, and we would be here.”