THRALL — As the halfway point of the District 27-2A softball season approaches, the Thrall Tigerettes (12-6 overall, 1-4 district) are looking for a spark to turn their season around. The Tigerettes have dropped three straight district games going into Tuesday’s match-up with the Holland Lady Hornets and, while still in the playoff hunt, need to turn things around before reaching the midway point of district play.
“Almost halfway through district, we are still in the hunt,” said Thrall Coach Matt Pokorny. “The majority of the teams are 2-4 or 3-2. A lot of district teams have beaten each other which is keeping us in it.”
While the Tigerettes have seen solid pitching through most of the season, they have struggled at the plate in their last few games. They dropped a 5-2 decision to Thorndale, followed by a 3-2 loss to Granger and a 5-3 loss to Rosebud-Lott, all in the late innings.
In each of those games, Thrall has managed just 14 combined hits.
“The thing that we have to get better at is finding a way to win when the pressure is on,” Pokorny said.
“And, more importantly, we have to find a way to win the seventh inning.”
Pokorny said mistakes have cost the Tigerettes in their current three-game losing streak.
“The last few weeks, we have beat ourselves,” he explained. “Either we haven’t communicated which caused an error, or we had a bad base-running mistake.”
But, despite the current struggles, Pokorny is staying confident in his team’s ability to win games. “My message to the team is to keep playing,” he said. “I sent a message to the ladies that there is no pressure on them. I’m proud of the girls and a hit here and there or a timely out and we could be 5-0 or 4-1.”
