RIESEL — The Thrall Tigerettes saw their season come to an end in the area round of the playoffs, falling to Blooming Grove in a best-of-three series. The Tigerettes dropped the opening game 4–0 on Friday, May 2, responded with a 4–2 win in Game 2, but ultimately fell 4–3 in the decisive Game 3 on Saturday, May 3.
Thrall struggled offensively in the opener, going just 3-for-24 at the plate and failing to score a run. Junior pitcher Miley Pokorny took the loss despite a complete-game effort, allowing four runs while striking out nine. Freshmen Selena Quintanilla, Piper Hernandez and sophomore Kenzie Engelke accounted for the Tigerettes’ three hits.
In Game 2, Thrall’s offense came alive in the fifth inning. After trading early runs — with Thrall scoring on a groundout in the first and Blooming Grove answering with a groundout RBI in the fourth — the Tigerettes plated three runs on RBI singles by Quintanilla and freshman Mireya Torres to take a 4–1 lead.
The Lions cut the deficit with a solo home run, but Pokorny closed out the win with a strikeout. She pitched another complete game, giving up two runs and striking out six.
Thrall started strong in Game 3, jumping out to a 3–0 lead in the first inning thanks to an RBI double by junior Riley Luton and a two-run single by senior Mikayla Velasquez. However, Blooming Grove tied the game with three runs of its own, aided by two costly Thrall errors.
The Lions scored the deciding run in the third inning on another fielding error. Neither team scored the rest of the way.
The Tigerettes finished the season with a 19–13 overall record and a 7–5 mark in district play. They earned a bi-district championship with a first-round playoff win over Elkhart.
