PREP SOFTBALL
Elma 5, Ocosta 0
Eagles starting pitcher Quin Mikel gave Ocosta batters fits Monday as she helped Elma cruise past the Wildcats 5-0 in Westport.
Mikel struck out six batters while surrendering two hits.
The game was relatively low-scoring, but Mikel was not without early run support as Destry Dineen drove in Molly Johnston in the second inning for the first run of the game.
Dineen scored on a single from Olivia Cain later in the inning to give the Eagles a 2-0 lead heading into the third.
Mikel said getting a two-run cushion helped her settle in and keep focused on the game plan.
“I just wanted to keep it low and to make sure it’s not a strike if I throw junk. If it is a strike, I still had to keep it low,” she said. “The early outs helped me find my groove and helped me make sure I stayed focused.”
Hasani Grayson | Grays Harbor News Group Elma’s Quin Mikel delivers a pitch in the seventh inning against Ocosta on Monday. Mikel pitched a complete-game shutout in Elma’s 5-0 win over the Wildcats.
Ocosta couldn’t quite get its offense going and only got a runner in scoring position once when Mekenna Fletcher advance to third after hitting a single in the fourth inning.
Elma head coach Roger Elliot said he was pleased with his team’s approach at the plate.
“We got some key hits. We got a nice bunt from Olivia that sparked us and a pop fly that Kassedy was able to tag up on,” he said. “Ocosta is a good team, so we’re happy to put five runs on them.”
Errors were also an issue for the Wildcats as they worked through some early-season glitches on defense. They committing four errors in the game.
Elma’s Kassedy Olson reached base on throwing errors in the third and fifth innings and came around to score in both instances.
Ocosta head coach Jason Barnum said mistakes like this are expected in the first game of the season after rainy conditions kept his team off the practice field.
“It was the first game of season, and I figured we’d be a little rusty on defense,” he said. “You get to do a lot of hitting in the gym, but there’s not much else you can do on defense.”
Ocosta’s Mekenna Fletcher fields a ground ball and throws out Elma’s Kali Rambo in the third inning on Monday. (Hasani Grayson | Grays Harbor News Group)
Elma managed to play a clean game defensively to help keep Ocosta from mounting a comeback.
“We had seven errors in one game Saturday and we only had 10 all year,” Elliot said. “Now we’ve had back-to-back clean games, so I’m very proud of them.”
Barnum wasn’t discouraged by the loss and said playing the 1A state-runner up to start the season will strengthen his team going forward.
“We’re right there with them. If you play a team like that three or four times a year it makes your team better,” he said.
Elma 021 020 0 — 5 5 0
Ocosta 000 000 0 — 02 4
Top players: Elma — Cain (1-4, RBI) Johnston (2 R, 2B) Olson (2 R)
WP: Mikel (7 IP, 6 K, 0 R)
LP: Fletcher (7 IP, 5 H, 1 ER)
Montesano 6, Tumwater 3
Montesano used some key base hits and a solid pitching performance from Lindsay Pace to defeat Tumwater on Monday in Tumwater.
Monte took an early lead when senior outfielder Matti Ekerson scored on junior Emma Jensen’s fielder’s choice groundout in the first inning.
The Bulldogs made the lead 2-0 two batters later, when senior Katie Granstrom came around to score on a Jessica Stanfield base hit.
But Tumwater responded to tie the game at 2-2 on Lydia Glasco’s two-run single in the bottom of the first inning.
Then Pace settled in to retire nine out of the next 10 Thurderbirds batters, allowing only a leadoff walk to Ashley May in the second inning.
Monte got the first of several key base hits in the fourth inning, when Ekerson belted a run-scoring, two-out double to left to give the Bulldogs the lead again at 3-2.
Two more two-out hits would provide Monte some insurance runs in the fifth inning when juniors Kate Klinger and Payton Kersker drove in runs with back-to-back singles, giving Monte a 5-2 lead.
Tumwater scored in the sixth, when Kersker sent Stanfield home with a base hit to right field.
Pace pitched around a leadoff single in the seventh to secure Monte’s first victory of the season.
Pace finished the game with 10 strikeouts, allowing three earned runs on five hits in a complete-game performance.
Savannah Owen took the loss for Tumwater, allowing six earned runs on nine hits and five walks in seven innings pitched.
Six different Bulldogs recorded at least one hit in the ballgame, led by Pace, Ekerson and Kersker with two apiece.
Montesano 200 120 1 — 6 9 0
Tumwater 200 001 0 — 3 5 2
WP — Pace (7 IP, 3 ER, 5 H, 10 K, 6 BB); LP — Owen (7 IP, 6 ER, 9 H, 2 K, 5 BB)
Top Players: Montesano — Ekerson (2-4, 2B, R, RBI); Kersker (2-1, 2 RBI); Pace (2-5, 2B, 3B); Klinger (1-3, R, RBI)
