It won’t go into the victory column quite yet, but Aberdeen did gain the upper hand on Hoquiam in Round One of the trans-Myrtle Street softball rivalry.
The Bobcats led the Grizzlies, 5-1, when Thursday’s non-league contest at the Bishop Complex was suspended in the fourth inning due to rain.
A light but steady rain began falling about 20 minutes prior to the 4:30 p.m. starting time and dotted the field with puddles by the second inning. Umpires called a halt with two outs and a runner on second base in the Aberdeen half of the fourth.
The contest will be resumed from the point of suspension, either at a mutually agreed-upon future date or as part of a doubleheader when the Bobcats visit Hoquiam later in the campaign.
Particularly given the conditions, Aberdeen (0-1) was solid in all aspects of the game.
The Bobcats scored in every inning but the third. They also turned in a couple of fine defensive plays — with freshman shortstop Sierra Hammond making a leaping catch to rob Kylee Bagwell of a hit to close out Hoquiam’s half of the fourth.
“All around, it was a great effort,” AHS coach Scott Wilson said. “They were definitely motivated.”
Bobcat pitcher Jillian Swor coped well with the conditions, allowing only two hits and issuing just two walks.
Her Hoquiam counterpart English Hyde, in contrast, experienced difficulties handling the wet ball. She walked five and uncorked four wild pitches in her 3 2/3-inning stint.
“She’s coming off an injury and she’s got a ways to go,” Hoquiam coach Keith Reynvaan explained. “That’s two games in a row she’s had to pitch in the slop and it’s not easy to do.”
Angel Jones’ bases-loaded single to left field in the first inning gave Aberdeen a 2-0 lead.
The Grizzlies (0-2) got one back in the second with an unearned run. Following Hyde’s leadoff single, courtesy runner Emma Skinner advanced to second on a throwing error and scored on another wild throw.
The Bobcats, however, answered by scoring twice in their half of the second.
Camryn Cook, who arrived only 15 minutes prior to the first pitch after participating in a band concert, stroked a leadoff triple off the base of the right-field fence. After walks to Stephanie Stopsen and Reagan Glanz filled the bases, Swor grounded a one-out single up the middle to score Cook. Glanz later came home on a wild pitch.
Another wild pitch brought in Hammond, who had singled, in the fourth moments before the game was called.
Aberdeen is scheduled to open Evergreen 2A Conference play Monday at Chehalis. The Grizzlies are slated to visit Spanaway Lake the same day.
