Lady Tigers, Lions battling on softball circuit

Teams dodge rain in blustery spring season
The 2017 softball campaign may go down as a challenging one for West County high school teams as they scramble to get in scheduled games in an historically wet spring.
The Lions and Tigers have kept one eye on the ball and the other on the skies while dates are routinely postponed and rescheduled, a situation that will lead to three and four-game weeks down the road. 
In between rain-outs, both teams did manage to get in limited action last week, with the Lions coming out on the short end of a 16-3 rout against Sonoma Valley, while the Tigers dropped four of five games in the weekend Napa Tournament.
At press time Analy (2-0, 5-7-1) was prepping for a key, April 18 clash with visiting Sonoma, followed by a Thursday, April 20 trip to Elsie Allen. The Tigers will travel to Petaluma next Monday, April 24 for a make-up showdown at archrival Petaluma. All games start at 4 p.m.
Meanwhile, the Lions (3-11, 0-3) were out to snap a six-game losing skid at Elsie Allen on April 18, before returning home to host the Tigers on Tuesday, April 25, 4 p.m.). 
Analy, El Mo weather losses
 The Lady Tigers weathered a litmus test in the Napa Tournament on April 14-15, suffering losses to potential playoff teams East Nicolaus (6-0), Dixon (3-1), Windsor (7-3) and Sonoma Valley (6-5). 
Analy opened the tourney with a tense, 5-5 tie against perennial power Pinole Valley, rallying for four runs in the third inning before the game was halted due to time constraints. Carson Rasmussen tossed four innings of five-hit ball, allowing three earned runs while fanning one in a strong effort. Top hitters were Payton Cords (2 for 3, run), Samantha Caughie (1 for 2, run, RBI), Claire Nelson (1 for 2, run, 3 RBIs) and Emily Dreyer (1 for 1, run).  
The Lions entertained a strong Sonoma Valley squad in their lone outing on April 14, plating a pair of first-inning runs to give pitcher Erika Olson an early 2-1 lead. It was the high point of the game for El Mo, as the Dragons scored two in the second, three in the fifth and iced it with eight runs in the seventh en route to a 16-3 win.  Collecting hits for the Lions were Risa Scott-Smith, Kristine Daniels, Kesley Barron and Jessica Van Rillear.