The Marshall County Tigerettes (16-7) had their eight-game winning streak snapped on Saturday afternoon after losing 12-2 in four innings to a strong Buckhorn Lady Bucks squad in the semifinals of the Lincoln County Border Battle.

Despite their loss to Buckhorn, the Tigerettes finished the weekend with a 4-1 record and ended up taking home third place in the tournament.

Alabama power

Ranked sixth in the current Class 6A Alabama Sports Writers Association poll, the Lady Bucks (29-12) displayed a potent offensive attack and pounded out 14 hits overall against MCHS starting pitcher Jacey Perryman and reliever Grace Medley to go along with two walks and three Tigerette errors.

Catcher Brooke Miller did the most damage at the plate for Buckhorn and went 3-for-3 with a homerun and 5 RBI. Katelyn Nowakowski (2 RBI), Shawna King (2 RBI), Jennifer Kern (1 RBI), and Kaylee Davis notched two hits apiece for the Lady Bucks as well.

Buckhorn starting pitcher Caitlyn Hayden went the distance in the circle to pick up the win and limited the Tigerettes to just one hit and two walks in the contest. Katie Crabtree doubled and drove in two runs to account for Marshall County's lone hit of the game, while Mecia Reed and Madison Thomason both drew walks.

"We went 7-1 this week and our lone loss was to a team that was better than us. Even though we lost this game, I'm super excited about how we're coming together at the right time of the season," said MCHS coach Holly Cook.

Early start

The Lady Bucks got their bats going early and pushed across four runs in the top of the first inning with the help of a pair of RBI singles by Nowakowski and Miller, a Jennifer Kern RBI groundout, and a MCHS error to seize a 4-0 lead.

Marshall County tried to keep pace with Buckhorn and narrowed the gap to 4-2 by tallying two runs in the bottom of the first thanks to a Buckhorn error, a walk by Thomason, and a Crabtree two-run double.

Buckhorn, however, mounted an immediate response and crossed home plate four times in the top of the second, highlighted by a two-run homer by Miller and a Shawna King RBI double, to open up an 8-2 advantage.

After stretching their lead to 11-1 in the third inning with the help of a Miller two-run single and a RBI single by King, the Lady Bucks tacked on another run in the top of the fourth on a leadoff double by Destiny Wright and a Nowakowski RBI groundout to cap their 12-2 win.