Chilly weather conditions were unable to cool off the bats of the Lewisburg Middle School Tigerettes on Tuesday night, as LMS opened the 2013 softball season by defeating the Community Viqueens 10-7 in Unionville.

The two teams were locked in a 1-1 tie through the first two innings of play before the Tigerettes exploded for nine runs over the next three frames to forge a 10-1 lead. LMS then had to stave off a late rally by Community to hold on for the three-run victory.

Many hits

Lewisburg banged out 14 hits and drew five walks against Viqueen starting pitcher Karla Pena, who suffered the loss.

Leadoff hitter Leah Hollingsworth helped spark the Tigerettes' offense by going 3-for-4 with a walk and a RBI. Sydne Solomon (2 RBIs), Taylor Walls (2 RBIs), Kathryn Donahue (1 RBI), and Laura Beth Brown tallied two hits apiece for LMS as well, while Autumn Kelley, Blair Richards, and starting hurler Halle Chapman each had one hit with Chapman driving in three runs.

Despite having to overcome four Lewisburg errors, Chapman went the distance in the circle to pick up the win and recorded eight strikeouts in seven innings of work while allowing seven runs, four earned, on nine hits and four walks.

A few errors

"I was pleased with the way that we hit, but I wished we would have closed the game out better," said LMS coach Lee Perryman. "We made some physical and mental errors late in the game although some of that might have been due to the weather."

Alyssa Freeman did the most damage at the plate for Community by going 2-for-3 with a homerun, 4 RBIs, and two runs scored. Haley Reed and Jaley Vincent also notched two hits each for the Viqueens with Vincent driving in one run.

LMS wasted little time getting on the board and tallied a run in the bottom of the first inning to grab a 1-0 lead. Following consecutive walks by Hollingsworth and Richards, Solomon hit into a fielder's choice to erase Hollingsworth on the base paths before Walls plated Richards with a two-out RBI single.

Community tied the game at 1-1 in the bottom of the second inning when Vincent laced a leadoff triple into right field prior to scoring on a Tigerette throwing error during the play.

Taking charge

The Tigerettes took control of the game in the top of the third by crossing home plate five times in the frame with the help of a Viqueen error, a three-run double by Chapman, and a Donahue RBI single to seize a 6-1 advantage.

Lewisburg then stretched their lead to 9-1 in the top of the fourth on the strength of a Hollingsworth single, a bunt single by Richards, a Solomon two-run double, and a RBI groundout by Walls.

In the top of the fifth inning, the Tigerettes opened up a 10-1 advantage when Brown raced home on a RBI single by Hollingsworth after singling and advancing to second on an Courtney Edde walk.

Late threat

Community began to chip away at the deficit in the bottom of the sixth and pushed across three runs in the frame with the aid of two LMS errors and a pair of RBI singles by Freeman and Vincent to make it 10-4.

Freeman then blasted a three-run homer over the centerfield fence in the seventh inning to narrow the gap to 10-7 before the Viqueens put runners on second and third with two outs thanks to a Kim Ramos walk and a Lewisburg error.

Chapman finally extinguished Community's comeback attempt by striking out Hailey Neihaus to secure the win for the Tigerettes.