There were plenty of hugs and tears at Lady Tiger Field during a doubleheader Saturday at Bradwell Institute.
 The BI girls faced Windsor Forest in a matchup of Region 3-AAAAA teams. The Lady Knights were sent home with tears of defeat after falling, 13-0 and 15-1, both in four innings, while the Lady Tigers cried as they honored their seniors in the last game of the regular season on their home turf.
Senior Lady Tiger Karson Rogers dominated the mound and gave up one hit in the first of two games.
After Bradwell’s first victory, family and friends gathered to honor the outgoing seniors with songs, gifts and plenty of hugs.
Senior Taylor Reese plans to join the armed forces after graduating. Senior slugger Candace Blair is preparing for a career as a sports journalist. Outfielder Rachael Ray is looking to become an educator.
Barbara Rego is planning to attend Georgia Perimeter College in Atlanta to study video production.
Rogers will graduate from BI with a certified nursing assistant specialty and plans to finish her nursing studies at Armstrong Atlantic State University.
Lady Tigers coach Sharyl Eastlake said the team created lasting memories for the graduating class of 2012.
“Courtney Felton, Marissa Polston and Kelissa Hargrove created photographic memory posters that the varsity players signed,” Eastlake said. “Kasey Smith designed and created hair bows for each of the seniors, and Jessica Puckett made a special presentation of a ‘Message in a Bottle.’ Each player wrote a special message on paper, we rolled it up and placed it in a mason jar with dirt from Tiger Field. We were an emotional mess … lots of tears, hugs and shared memories.”
The coach said the team plans to share more memories during its awards ceremony banquet in November. But first, Bradwell had to get back to business and prepare for an important away game Thursday against Jenkins.
Bradwell and Jenkins have been battling for second place in the region. The Lady Tigers currently are 11-8 overall and 5-2 in the region.
 Jenkins is 10-7, 5-1,  and its only region loss was a 7-5 setback to Bradwell when the two teams met Aug. 30 in Hinesville.
It was BI’s first win over Jenkins in five years.