PREP SOFTBALL
Elma 6, Montesano 5
With one swing of the bat, Elma’s Kali Rambo gave the Eagles their first win over rival Montesano in four years.
Rambo’s bases-loaded single to left field in the bottom of the seventh gave Elma a 6-5 walk-off win on Tuesday in Elma.
Elma’s Kali Rambo drives in the game-winning run in the bottom of the seventh against Montesano. (Hasani Grayson | Grays Harbor News Group)
Rambo said she could feel the momentum going their way when the Eagles (8-0-1, 1-0 Evergreen 1A) started the seventh inning with a double off the bat of Olivia Cain.
“I was just looking for a base hit to score the runner from third. (Coach Ashley Stancil) always says that hits are contagious and once we get going it is hard to stop us,” she said. “(Montesano starter Lindsay Pace) pitched me inside and that’s my weak spot. The next pitch was right down the middle.”
Cain’s double led off the seventh inning and Chloe Clark followed with a single that moved Cain to third with no outs.
With runners on the corners, Montesano head coach Pat Pace elected to walk Kassedy Olson to load the bases for Rambo.
“At that point, with runners on first and third, it was a matter of them putting a bunt down to win the game or trying to get a force out at home,” Coach Pace said. “We were just hoping for a ground ball and Rambo did a great job stepping up when they needed her.”
The Bulldogs (4-2, 0-1) were protecting a 5-2 lead after scoring twice in the top of the fourth.
Elma got some timely hitting from Quin Mikel, who hit a two-run double down the left field line to cut into Monte’s lead in the bottom of the fourth.
Two batters latter, Desrty Dineen drove in Mikel with a shallow sacrifice fly, allowing Mikel to slide home and tie game at five.
Montesano never regained the lead they built in the first inning. The Bulldogs got off to a strong start with a two-run single from Janessa Otterstetter with two outs in the bottom of the first.
Coach Pace said his team could have pulled out the win if his players had taken advantage of more of their opportunities.
“We had our opportunities and we really dropped the ball, literally, on defense a couple of times,” he said. “We didn’t get the big hit when we needed it. I don’t think our focus was as good as Elma’s and when you play them, you have to play your best game.”
Montesano’s early scoring success came with Dineen in the circle. The senior hurler pitched the first four innings of the contest, surrendering five runs on five hits, along with four walks.
Mikel pitched the renaming three innings and allowed three base runners in three shutout innings of work.
Elma head coach Roger Elliot said Mikel’s pitching style was better suited for the umpire’s small strike zone.
“She throws a little closer to the plate and we had a tough strike zone to deal with. We wanted to get a few more calls here and there and it worked,” he said.
Montesano will get a chance to get back in the win column with a game at Hoquiam on Thursday at 4 p.m.
Elma will take on a non-league opponent when it faces Pe Ell-Willapa Valley at 4:30 p.m on Thursday.
Elliot said a win like this is good for an Eagles team that had trouble believing in itself in previous matchups against the Bulldogs.
“It’s a nice win, so maybe that’ll get that out of their head a little bit because I think a lot of it has been mental over the past few years,” he said. “We’ve had a decent enough team to beat them. Maybe this will get them over the hump.”
Elma’s Kali Rambo, middle, celebrates with teammates Destry Dineen, left, and Molly Johnston after hitting a walk-off single in the seventh inning against Montesano. Elma beat Montesano 6-5. (Hasani Grayson | Grays Harbor News Group)
Montesano 210 200 0 – 5 7 2
Elma 011 300 1 – 6 12 1
WP — Mikel (3 IP, 5 K, 0 R); LP — Pace (6 IP, 4 ER, 5 K, 4 BB)
Top Hitters: Elma – Mikel (4-2, 2 RBI, R), Rambo (3-2, BB, RBI), Cain (2-4, 2 2B, 2 R); Montesano – Otterstetter (2-4, 2 RBI)
Hoquiam 5, Forks 0
Timely hitting from Jade Cox and a shutdown pitching performance Tauni Hilliard helped Hoquiam to a 5-0 victory at Forks on Tuesday.
Cox provided a pair of key hits for the Grizzlies (3-1, 1-0 Evergreen 1A), one of which came in the second inning where she drove in Kylee Bagwell with a triple in the second inning. Cox later scored on sacrifice bunt from Charli Eastman later in the inning.
Cox came up with another three-bagger in the seventh, driving in Bagwell again. Cox scored her second run of the game when she scored on a bunt by Hailey Lawrence.
Hoquiam head coach Keith Reynvaan said it was key that his team took advantage when the Grizzlies had runners in scoring position in what figured to be a low-scoring game.
“Baserunners were at premium. We put six baserunners on base and five of them scored. We played a little small ball with them aside from the two triples,” he said.
For her part, Hilliard kept the Spartans from mounting a comeback and only had to pitch out of trouble once in the sixth inning when Forks got two hits.
Hoquiam will play a home game against Montesano 4 p.m. on Thursday in its next contest.
Hoquiam 020 100 2 – 5 4 2
Forks 000 000 0 – 0 4 0
WP — Hilliard (4 K, 0BB); LP — Chloe Leverington (5 ER, 8 K, 2 BB)
Top Hitters: – Hoquiam: Jade Cox (2 3B 2 RBI, 2 R)
Aberdeen 15, Black Hills 0
The Aberdeen Bobcats pounded out 18 hits in a 15-0 mercy-rule romp over the Black Hills Wolves on Tuesday in Aberdeen.
Sierra Hammond went 3-for-4 with a double and three RBI while the Bobcats leadoff hitter, Hailey Wilson, was a perfect 3-for-3 with three runs scored.
Eleven Bobcats recorded a base hit in a ballgame that lasted a mere four-and-a-half innings. Aberdeen scored four runs in both the first and second innings before seven Bobcats crossed the plate in the third.
Aberdeen starter Jalyn McDaniel earned the win, allowing no earned runs on one hit. McDaniel struck out six Wolves without allowing a walk.
Mady Baudais pitched a scoreless fourth inning, striking out a batter while not surrendering a hit in the frame.
Stephanie Stopsen, Kacie Powell and Katlynn Smith also had multi-hit games for Aberdeen.
The win moves the Bobcats to a perfect 2-0 in the 2A Evergreen League (2-2 overall).
Black Hills 000 0 — 0 1 2
Aberdeen 447 x — 15 18 1
WP — McDaniel (3 IP, 0 ER, H, 6 K, BB); LP — Elena Jones (2 IP, 8 ER, 10 H, K, BB)
Top Players: Aberdeen — Hammond (3-4, 2B, R, 3 RBI); Wilson (3-3, 3 R); Stopsen (2-2, 3 RBI); Powell (2-2, 3B, 2 R, RBI); Smith (2-3, R, RBI); Sophie Bridges (1-1, R); Logan Glanz (1-1, R, RBI); Kaely Chum (1-1, R, RBI); Allye Troseth (1-2, R, RBI); Annie Boyle (1-2, 2B, R, 2 RBI)
— Ryan Sparks, Grays Harbor News Group
PREP BASEBALL
Toledo 9, Elma 3
Elma fell behind by four runs in the first inning and never recovered in a 9-3 loss to Toledo on Tuesday at Toledo High School.
Toledo (1-5-1) loaded the bases right away against Elma starter Justin Elliott before scoring runs on two singles and a wild pitch for a 4-0 first inning lead.
The Indians tacked on a run in each of the second and third innings before blowing the game open with a three-run fifth.
Down 9-0, Elma (3-4) scored a run in the sixth off a Trent Richardson sacrifice fly that chased AJ Whipple across the plate.
The Eagles scored a pair of runs in the seventh on a Caleb Knutson fielder’s choice followed by an Indians error on a hard-hit ground ball off the bat of Brady Shriver.
Shriver, Raiden Aho and Brody Rustemeyer each had a pair of hits for Elma, with Rustemeyer knocking the Eagles’ only extra-base hit of the contest with a leadoff double to left in the top of the seventh.
Elliott took the loss for Elma, allowing four earned runs on three hits and a walk in an inning pitched.
Elma committed three errors in the contest, attributing to Toledo’s seven unearned runs.
“Too many free passes pitching tonight and critical errors allowed (Toledo) to have big innings,” Elma head coach Jim Hill said. “We put the ball in play and we got on base, but we stranded 15 or 16 runners. … We’ve got to put the ball in play with runners on.”
Elma 000 001 2 — 3 8 3
Toledo 411 030 x — 9 5 2
WP — Hunter Holmes (3 IP, 0 ER, 4 H, 5 K, 3 BB); LP — Elliott (IP, 4 ER, 3 H, BB)
Top Players: Elma — Rustemeyer (2-3, 2B, R); Shriver (2-4, RBI); Aho (2-4); Noah Huttula (1-2, R); Carter Jacobson (1-3); Knutson (0-2, RBI). Toledo — Bryce Marcil (1-4, R, 2 RBI); Hunter Eaton (1-2, R, 2 RBI; Kaden Sellards (1-3, 2 RBI)
— Ryan Sparks, Grays Harbor News Group
Rainier 5, PWV 1
Rainier sophomore pitcher Michael Green scattered six hits while striking out nine to hand Pe Ell-Willapa Valley a 5-1 loss on Tuesday in Rainier.
Rainier (10-0) scored a pair of runs in the second and fourth innings and scratched across a run in the fifth while Green held PWV (2-4) to one run.
The Titans scored their lone run of the game when Luke Gerow belted a two-out double to right field in the third inning, scoring Joseph Krafczyk in the process.
Max Smith took the loss for PWV, allowing five earned runs on six hits in 4 1/3 innings of work.
PWV 001 000 — 1 6 3
Rainier 020 210 x — 5 7 1
WP — Greene (7 IP, ER, 6 H, 9 K, 2 BB); LP — Smith (4.1 IP, 5 ER, 6 H, K, BB)
Top Players: PWV — Gerow (2-3, 2B, RBI); Hunter Hoke (2-3), Kaden Ritzman (1-2); Hudson Barnum (1-3); Krafczyk (0-1, R)
— Ryan Sparks, Grays Harbor News Group
PREP TENNIS
Montesano 6, Aberdeen 0
Montesano won every set in a matchup against the Aberdeen Bobcats, winning 6-0 in Aberdeen on Tuesday.
The Bulldogs (1-1 overall) got wins from Anna Ayers, Kathryn Thomas and Sophie Barre in the singles to sweep that leg of the competition.
The closest singles match featured Barre and Aberdeen’s Kylie Knodel, with Barre getting the edge by score of 6-3 in both sets. Knodel had been undefeated on the season entering the match.
Montesano was dominant in doubles as well as none of Aberdeen’s three pairings won more than four games in their respective matches.
Aberdeen falls to 0-4 on the season with the loss.
Montesano will hit the road to face Tenino on Thursday at 3:30 p.m. while Aberdeen will be looking for its first win of the season at Tumwater at 3:30 p.m. on Monday.
Singles: Barre (Montesano) defeated Knodel (Aberdeen) 6-3, 6-3; Ayers (M) def. Chase Baller (A) 6-1, 6-2; Thomas (M) def. Mary Lang (A) 6-0, 6-3
Doubles: Danika Peterson/Alexa Couch (M) def. Molly Scrogss/Abbie Bradt (A) 6-1, 6-2; Ellie Barbo/Ava Poler (M) def. Isabel Rifenberg/Alica Raygoza (A) 6-2, 6-2; Molly Ellis/ Shelby Dilley (M) def. Kylie Ehly/Kylie Weiberg (A) 6-1, 6-1
