UMS 8, North Ridge 18 Rain, wet conditions and errors were factors in Urbana’s 18-8 loss at Winterview Park against North Ridge. Aleah, Brynlee, Halie and Ava Northen all singled and scored in the first inning for a 4-0 lead. North Ridge answered back with four runs of their own in the first. Although Sydni and Aleah scored in the second, the Tigers left bases loaded after the North Ridge pitcher delivered three-straight walks. The Ridge Runners tallied five more runs in the second inning for a 9-6 advantage. Neither team scored in the third and Urbana left bases loaded in the top of the fourth inning. North Ridge picked up three more runs in the fourth to make it 12-6. In the top of the fifth, Ava Leming got on base with a triple to left field and scored the lone run for the Tigers that inning. A single, triple and home run led to three runs for North Ridge in the bottom of the fifth, cushioning their lead, 15-7. Ava Northen had a triple in the sixth inning and scored the last run for UMS.
UMS 14, Jefferson 19 (10 innings) The Tigers only had one comeback in them for their game against Jefferson Middle School. After 10 innings of play, UMS came up short, losing to the Jaguars, 19-14. Jefferson got off to a solid start by plating four runs in the first inning. Urbana answered back in the bottom of the inning with three runs. Ava Leming and Brynlee had back-to-back doubles to start the Tigers’ at-bat. Halie got on with a walk and scored thanks to a sacrifice fly ball from Ava Northen. The Jaguars added two runs in both the third and fourth inning to take an 8-3 advantage heading into the bottom of the fourth inning. Lillian, Taryn and Aleah got on base and scored off of singles from Brynlee and Halie to cut the Tigers’ deficit to 8-6. Jefferson extended their lead to 10-6 heading into the seventh inning and added three more runs, leaving UMS down by seven runs with one at-bat left. Halie led off the inning with a walk and hits from Tayla and Ava Northen got her around the bases and across the plate. Both Tigers went on to score, along with Lillian, to put UMS down by only three runs. Taryn and Aleah each got on base with a hit and Brynlee drew a walk to load the bases with two outs. Halie drilled a ball to left field for a game tying triple. Neither team scored in the eighth inning, but JMS managed to score one run in the ninth inning. In the bottom of the inning, Aleah got on base after getting hit by a pitch and a single at the hands of Brynlee brought Aleah in to tie the game, 14-14. The Jaguars were productive in the tenth inning and scored five runs off of three hits. Lillian and Taryn got on base with singles, but were left stranded as UMS took the 19-14 loss in ten innings. Ava Leming pitched all ten innings. Of the 59 batters faced, she only walked four Jaguars.
UMS 4, Villa Grove 16 It was a tie game at the end of the fourth inning, but Villa Grove’s bats were too much for the UMS defense to handle, leading to a 16-4 loss. The Blue Devils took an early lead by scoring three in the first inning. Lillian singled in the second inning to get on base, and a double by Aleah drove her in to make it 4-1 after two innings. Brynlee and Halie hit back-to-back doubles in the third inning before Tayla had a double of her own to drive them in, leaving the Tigers down by one run, 4-3. In the bottom of the fourth, Aleah got on base with a single and Ava Leming hit an RBI double to tie the game 4-4. But the Blue Devils buried the Tigers with 12 runs through the last three innings, whereas UMS only had four players reach base the rest of the game. Ava Leming issued six strikeouts for UMS in her third game pitching that week.
UMS 17, Paxton-Buckley-Loda 10 Even though they gave up five runs in the first inning, the Tigers got their first win of the season on the road in Paxton. Urbana rallied in the first inning to score three runs with two outs. But the lead was short lived as PBL’s first five batters each plated runs to make it 5-3 after one inning. The Panthers picked up two runs in the third inning to extend their lead, 7-3. Urbana scored twice in the fourth inning and only saw three batters in the bottom of the fourth, making it 7-5. The Tigers’ whole lineup batted in the fifth, where the they scored six runs for an 11-7 lead. Lillian and Taryn had hits in the inning and Tayla had a double. UMS scored another run in the 6th inning and five in the seventh inning to earn their first win of the season, 17-10. Everyone in the Tiger lineup scored at least one run. Taryn had four RBIs, Tayla had three, Brynlee had two, and Lillian and Sydni each had one, respectively. Ava Leming struck out five batters and pitched the entire game for the Tigers, despite having pitched all seven innings the day before.
UMS 0, Rantoul Eater 5 In their first game of the season, the Tiger offense was unable to put the ball into play, leading to a 5-0 loss against the visiting Bulldogs. UMS had 11 runners reach base throughout the seven innings, with Aleah, Ava Leming and Kayla each recording a steal. Ava Leming issued 10 strikeouts and zero walks for the Tigers. Other Urbana defensive highlights included Tayla fielding and making three plays at first base and a line drive catch by Halie at third base.