The DeKalb County High School Tigerettes Softball team battled through the regional tournament last week to earn a spot in the state softball tournament. The team has earned a spot amongst the eight best AA teams in the state, but the road to the tournament was not easy, with some close games against some heavy competition.
On May 12, DeKalb was at home in the first round of regional tournament play, taking on Bledsoe County. The game would turn out to be a nine-inning clash with runs at a premium. The game would remain scoreless through the first three innings, then DeKalb took the lead with two runs in the fourth.
Bledsoe got on the board in the fifth inning with one run, but the Tigerettes looked to pull away in the top of the sixth with two more runs. Bledsoe came back in the same inning, putting one more run on the scoreboard.
Nerves were on edge in the bottom of the seventh, as DeKalb watched their two-run lead disappear. Bledsoe vame in with two runs, tying the game and sending the match to extra innings.
The game went into the ninth inning, when Chelsey Brannon drove in the winning run. DeKalb’s defense held, and the Tigerettes came away with the hard-fought win, 5-4. Brannon also had a key catch in left field, throwing in to home for a double play, and keeping Bledsoe from scoring.
DeKalb had 12 hits for five runs, and one error, while Bledsoe had 11 hits, for four runs, and zero errors. Kayley Caplinger was the winning pitcher.
Katie Hall had three singles in the game, while Lauren Colwell and Dani Meadows each had two. Tyra Graham, Brannon, Loren Cripps, and Shauna Taylor each had one single, while Danielle Tyson had a triple.
The next leg of the tournament took the Tigerettes to Dunlap, where they faced Sequatchie County. This game would be a struggle in more ways than one for DeKalb.
The game was scheduled to start at 5 p.m. on May 14, and the Tigerettes played the first inning, but the game was called due to rain. The next day, the team traveled the long journey back to Sequatchie County to resume the game, but it would not be the game they had hoped for.
Again, points during tournament play seemed elusive through the early innings. It would be the fourth inning before either team got on the board, but it would not be in the Tigerettes’ favor. Sequatchie scored three points to DeKalb’s one. The game would go another inning and a half, but the score would stand. DeKalb lost, 3-1.
DeKalb had three hits and one error in the game, while Sequatchie’s three runs came off of six hits and one error. Caplinger was the losing pitcher.
Tyson had two singles in the game, while Caplinger had one.
The loss sent the Tigerettes to play in the Sub-State in Chattanooga against Chattanooga Central. Again, points would be rare, but this time DeKalb would come out on top.
The Tigerettes took a one-point lead with a run in the first inning. The only other point in the game would come in the fifth, adding another run to DeKalb’s score and sealing the 2-0 win.
The Tigerettes’ two runs, came from two hits and one error, while Central had one hit and three errors. Caplinger was the winning pitcher.
Tyson had a single in the game, while Caplinger had a double. 
"I appreciate the opportunity for our team to return to the state tournament," Coach Danny Bond told the Review. "We’ve been working for this all year long. Even after the end of last year, we set our sights and our goals on going to the state. We don’t want to just go to the state, we want to win the state."
The win over Chattanooga Central propels the Tigerettes to the TSSAA Class AA State Girls' Softball Tournament in Murfreesboro, with the first round set against Greenbrier.
 "This is our sixth appearance going to the state. Everybody there will be a good ball club. There’s eight teams left in Tennessee in Class AA, and we’re one of them, and we’re happy to be there. We’re going to try to go and represent our school, and our county, and our team as best we can."
The Tigerettes are currently 40-6 overall, including winning the Gordonsville Tournament, the Macon County Tournament, and coming in third in the Coffee County Tournament with some sick and missing players.