Tigers are a “class act” on senior night

NRHEG hosted Medford in the Section 2AA playoffs last week, and while the stakes were high to win and advance, sportsmanship between the two sides is what stole the show.

According to NRHEG head coach Wendy Schultz, the Tigers had reached out to the Panthers before to let them know that they had planned to recognize their senior athletes after the game; however, what shocked Panthers fans was that Medford chose to also recognize the NRHEG seniors.

“Medford not only recognized the seniors, but also bought them flowers. What a thoughtful and generous thing to do. It meant so much to our NRHEG girls. Throughout the game the Medford softball players showed such great sportsmanship. I’ve coached for 25 years and this was one of the coolest things I’ve seen. The Medford softball team, coaches, and parents are a class act,” said Schultz.

Just as exciting as the post-game ceremony was the game itself between No. 7 NRHEG and No. 10 Medford.

After a 0-0 first inning, NRHEG claimed the first lead of the game at 1-0 through the second and improved its total to 2-0 after the third.

A two-run home run off the bat of Medford’s Josie Schell quickly eradicated the home side’s lead in the top of the fourth, but the Panthers looked determined to give the home crowd a win with two runs of their own in the bottom of the inning.

Now trailing 4-2, Medford found a stretch of hot hitting at the right time and accumulated three runs in the top of the fifth to take its first lead of the game at 5-4.

Bats quickly cooled off for both sides afterward as neither team would go on to score again.

Medford’s defense struggled at times committing four errors in the field over the course of the game, but starting pitcher Mackenzie Velishek shined when it mattered most allowing just four runs on six hits with five strikeouts.

Schell was the Tigers’ leading offensive player with one hit, two runs and two RBIs.

NRHEG was the cleaner team on defense with no errors on the day, but the Tigers were able to find all of the holes in the Panthers’ defense en route to out-hitting their opponents 9-6.

Medford went on to play Fairmont after beating NRHEG to stay in the winners’ bracket, however, the Tigers suffered a 7-1 defeat and were relegated to the losers’ bracket.

The Tigers found themselves out-hit 14-1 by Fairmont and watched their tournament dreams take a hit when the Cardinals pounded them for a five-run sixth inning after trailing just 2-1 previously.

Medford played St. James last Saturday; stats and results were not available at the time of press.

Meanwhile, NRHEG’s 2022-23 season ended at home after the loss to the Tigers.