Finally able to get out of the gym and onto the softball field, Hoquiam and Elma met on Tuesday to kick-start their Evergreen 1A League seasons at Gable Park.
One-half inning after the host Grizzlies took the lead, the Eagles put the ball in play and took advantage of three Hoquiam errors for a four-run fourth inning and fly to a 6-4 victory.
Elma pitcher Quin Mikel helped Hoquiam strand eight runners on base and scattered nine hits to pick up the win in the circle. The Grizzlies’ English Hyde shut down most of the Eagles’ batting lineup, but was hurt by the defense behind her for the loss.
“We just have to get outside; that’s the main thing,” Elma head coach Roger Elliott said. “We had errors. They had errors. We helped each other out. Quin pitched really well. The top of the lineup hit well, but we need to pick it up in the bottom of the order.”
“If you can’t throw or catch, you can’t win; it doesn’t work out that way,” HHS head coach Keith Reynvaan said. “We have a long way to go. We’re not playing well. I thought English pitched really well, getting out of some jams. We are just waiting for a spark here.”
Hoquiam put the ball in play for the entire contest, striking out just once against Mikel, but sent up a lot of pop flies for easy outs.
In the third inning, three straight singles turned into Hoquiam’s first run, an RBI single by ReyLynn Dunn. With the bases loaded and no outs, the Grizzlies had their best chance. Hyde hit a sacrifice fly to the left-field fence to tie the game at 2-2.
On a Paige Folkers stolen base, Dunn scored from third when the infielders couldn’t find the ball to give Hoquiam a 3-2 lead. Mikel got out of the frame with a pop up and a groundout to limit the damage.
In the top of the fourth, Elma took the lead for good. A dropped fly ball in the outfield started the frame. A misplayed grounder through to the outfield sent the tying run home from second.
With two outs and runners at second and third, Hoquiam nearly got out of the inning when Elma’ Peyton Elliott grounded to third base. However, the throw to first was dropped, allowing two runs to score and Elliott to sprint to third.
Elliott scored on Kaylee Rambo’s RBI double one at-bat later at 6-3. Maya Jump finished the scoring for Hoquiam with a two-out RBI double in the bottom of the fourth.
Elliott, who led all players with three hits, started the scoring in the top of the first with an RBI double off Hyde. Elliott scored from third when Hoquiam tried to throw out Rambo at second on a stolen base attempt.
On Thursday, Elma (2-0, 3-0) hosts rival Montesano, while Hoquiam (0-2, 0-4) hosts Castle Rock.
Elma 200 400 0 — 6 6 2 Hoquiam 003 100 0 — 4 9 3
Mikel and Elliott; Hyde and English.
RBI: Elma — Elliott, Rambo. Hoquiam — Jump, Dunn, Hyde. Three hits: Elma — Elliott. Two hits: Hoquiam — Jump, Folkers. Doubles: Elma — Rambo, Elliott. Hoquiam — Jump.
Winning pitcher — Mikel (one strikeout, one walks). Losing pitcher — Hyde (four strikeouts, three walks).
