By ROBERT L. LEE

LUTCHER – Head coach Mark Sims had a shoulder-to-shoulder smile after his Otto Candies Tigers scored in every odd inning to shut out the Golden Grove Truck Plaza Bulldogs 7-0 Monday in Lutcher.

The error-laden Bulldogs managed to set a total of seven runners in scoring position, but no farther, while their five errors made it easier for eight Tiger hits to trickled in for seven runs.

The Tigers jumped out of the dugout with two runs in the top of the first inning, thanks in part to early Bulldogs’ errors, which would continue to appear in clutch situations. The first error, an overthrow, allowed the Tigers’ Steven Burns to reach first base. A Kyle Mineo double to deep right field placed runners on second and third bases, before a Jordan Brown base hit gave them both a green light to cross home plate.

“Scoring early really helped us out and we did a great job of keeping the lead to the end,” said Sims, who credited the Tigers pitching, namely Charlie Harrell, for the win.

“We had great pitching. We are short-handed pitching wise, but they did a great job.”

Sims said he didn’t know much about what the Bulldogs we going to throw at them, but based on Lutcher’s regular season team, he was ready for a battle.

“But they made mistakes and helped us,” he said. “They swung at some that may have been out of the zone and we were in the right spots.”

The Bulldogs quickly stepped up their defense, turning a double play from the short stop to second, then first base.

The Bulldogs held their ground defensively through the second inning, but saw the another two runs against them in the third.

The Tigers’ Alex Romero delivered a double to center field, then was brought home by Mineo. Three walks later, Mineo crossed home, and with relatively little excitement, the Tigers had built a 4-0 wall against the Bulldogs. The Bulldogs dodged a purple bullet when they gained the third out via a strike out, leaving the bases loaded. The Tigers would again load the bases in the fifth inning, and stroll in for their fifth run on a walk.

With Tigers on all three bases, Bulldogs’ pitcher Randy Waguespack struck out one batter for the inning’s first out, but gave Andrew Hickman a deep hit to center and a RBI. Hickman would gain another RBI from a line drive over third base for the team’s seventh and final run.

After seven full innings of watching his Bulldogs repeatedly slip into a goose-egged shaped rut, coach Scott Tribble admitted his team was young, but could have done better.

“I am very disappointed. We didn’t play like we wanted to play,” continued Tribble. “We did some things at the plate the game doesn’t call for. We had to give 100 percent and we just didn’t come through.”