Aberdeen girls tennis had some kinks to work through in its first meeting of the season, falling 5-1 to Tenino on Friday.
Aberdeen’s lone match win came from Kylie Knodel who won her singles match 6-2, 6-1 against Thiresa Sath.
Knodel was pleased with the result of the match and is planing on working more on her service game as the season progresses.
“At first I was nervous but once I got more into it, I became more calm,” she said. “It took me a while to get my serves in the service spots, but I want to keep working on my serves and placing the ball consistently.”
Knodel is one of two seniors on a roster filled with young players with limited playing experience.
For more than half the players on the team, tennis is something they just started playing less than two weeks ago.
“One of our biggest hurdles is gong to be that over 50 percent of our team has never played tennis before last week,” Aberdeen tennis coach Ashley Kohlmeier said. “Teaching the girls the game of tennis is going to be our focus this year. Other teams have the luxury of having girls that play year round. We’ve had teams like that in the past, but this year it’s a lot of freshmen and sophomores.”
Senior Chase Baller nearly notched another win for her team, but fell just short of pulling off the victory, falling 6-4, 7-5 to Grace Vestal.
Aberdeen’s doubles team fell short as well, with the duo of Abbie Bradt and Molly Scroggs falling 6-1, 6-1 to Ally Vestal and Kylee Schow. Schow presented a particularly tough challenge for Scroggs and Bradt as her aggressive net play helped Tenino pull ahead early in the match.
Aberdeen’s Molly Scroggs returns a shot with a forehand during a doubles match against Tenino’s Kylee Schow and Ally Vestal on Friday. The team of Scroggs Abby Brady lost to Tenino’s Schow and Vestal 6-1, 6-1. (Hasani Grayson | Grays Harbor News Group)
Kohlmeier said her doubles and singles players will need to work on putting themselves in better position to hit return shots.
“We really need to work on court awareness and realizing that you just can’t stand in one spot,” she said. “You’re going to have to move around a little bit and know where your partner is standing. Since these girls are new to tennis, trying to worry about positioning and where and how to hit the ball is a lot for them to think about.”
Aberdeen’s season will continue with another matchup at Tenino on Monday at 3:30 p.m.
Kohlmeier said she expects to see some clear improvements from the first match of the season since the Bobcats are facing the same opponent.
“I’m pretty sure the lineups will be fairly similar on Monday, so they’ll see a lot of familiar faces,” she said. “That’ll be great, especially for those matches like Chase Baller, who played a really close match in both sets. I have high hopes that she can overcome that on Monday and play a little better.”
Singles: Knodel (Aberdeen) defeated Sath (Tenino) 6-2, 6-1; Grace Vestal (T) def. Baller (A) 6-4, 7-5; Courtney Dodge (T) def. Mary Lang 6-2, 6-2.
Doubles: Ally Vestal/Kylee Schow (T) def. Bradt/Scroggs (A) 6-1, 6-1; Rhina Mathis/ Maddi Hohmen (T) def. Isabel Rifenberg/Alicia Raygoza (A) 6-0, 6-0;Megan Letts/Leanne Bubnick def. Kylie Ehly/ Katelynn Kindle 6-2, 6-0.
PREP SOCCER
Elma 2, Black Hills 1
A long-range goal from Rodrigo Luna gave Elma the edge in a 2-1 win over Black Hills on Friday in Olympia.
With the game tied at a goal a piece, Elma (1-1-1 overall) was awarded a free kick near midfield.
With the defense pushed up towards the spot of the kick, Luna booted the ball toward the box and over the head of Wolves defenders.
The ball bounced past the keeper when he tried to the account for Josue Torres, who was on a 40-yard run towards the box.
Elma head coach Carl Seaburg said Torres’ run is a good example of the team creating its own luck.
“It seems like a lucky goal, but if you’re in the right place at the right time and you put in that effort, it’s definitely earned,” he said.
Seaburg also highlighted AJ Hernandez’s performance as the keeper came away with nine saves on 10 shots in the match.
The goal proved to be the game winner after Black Hills (1-1) tied the game in the 32nd minute with a goal from 9-yards out.
Elma will start its league schedule with a road match against Hoquiam at 5 p.m. on Tuesday.
Elma’s junior varsity won its match earlier in the day, 4-0.
Elma 1 1 – 2
Black Hills 1 0 – 1
Top Players: Luna (G, 50th minute) Aiden Sayers-Hartman (G, 20th minute), Torres (A)
Hoquiam 10, King’s Way 0
Hector De La Osa accounted for half of the Grizzlies scoring as they cruised to a 10-0 win over King’s Way Christian on Friday in Vancouver.
De La Osa scored once in the first half and four goals in the second half to help the Grizzlies (1-1) blow out the Knights (0-2).
Connor Darras also had a strong game and came away with a hat trick, scoring goals in the third, 11th and 43rd minutes.
Hoquiam head coach Fidel Sanchez liked the increased intensity he saw from his team after losing to Aberdeen on Thursday, especially from Darras and De La Osa.
“Connor and Hector were able to finish their chances. King’s Way wasn’t as good of an opponent as Aberdeen, but (Connor and Hector’s) play was the major difference tonight,” he said.
Hoquiam starts its league schedule on Tuesday with a home game against Elma at 5 p.m.
Hoquiam 4 6 – 10
King’s Way Christian 0
Top Players: Darras (3 G, 3rd, 11th and 43rd minute), De La Osa (5 G, 15th, 45th, 51st, 77th and 79th minute), Skyler Johnson (G, 33rd minute), Andy Garcia (G, 58th minute, A)
Centralia 7, Montesano 0
Centralia got the scoring going in the 20th minute and never looked back as Montesano suffered a 7-0 road loss at the hands of the Tigers on Friday.
Centralia took advantage of a penalty kick in the 20th minute and got another tally in the 30th minute off a of a cross into the box.
Montesano (0-3) was battling injuries and had difficulty mounting a comeback against a Centralia team that controlled possession.
Montesano coach Rick Denholm said his team had trouble dealing with Centralia’s constant pressure.
“They’re a very good possession-oriented team and we had a couple players out from injuries from last night,” he said. “They attacked us for pretty much the whole night.”
Montesano starts league play with a home game against Raymond-South Bend at 7 p.m. on Tuesday.
Centralia 3 4 – 7
Montesano 0 0 – 0
PREP BASEBALL
Elma 10, Black Hills 8
Elma’s seventh inning comeback attempt fell short in a 10-8 loss to Black Hills on Friday at Black Hills High School.
Elma (2-2) struck first with a pair of runs in the first inning on run-scoring singles by Tye Richardson and Brody Rustemeyer.
But Black Hills (1-2) responded with a pair of runs in the bottom half of the inning followed by a run in the bottom of the second to take a 3-2 lead.
Elma tied the game in the top of the third when Raiden Aho scored on an error.
But Black Hills responded again, scoring a pair of runs in the bottom of the third and adding an insurance run the following inning to take a 6-3 lead.
Fortunes turned sour for Elma in the bottom of the sixth inning, where three Eagles errors led to a four-run inning for the Wolves, giving Black Hills a commanding 10-3 lead heading to the top of the seventh.
Facing a seven-run deficit in their last half-inning, the Eagles mounted an impressive comeback. Elma scored four runs in the frame, cutting the Black Hills lead to 10-8 on Carter Jacobson’s fielder’s choice groundout.
With one out in the inning and Caleb Knutson representing the tying run on first base, Black Hills reliever Taylor Timmons struck out Elma’s Brady Johnston and Jayden Tiffany to end the Eagles’ comeback hopes.
“Baseball is a weird game,” Elma head coach Jim Hill said of his team’s furious late-game rally. “We have the philosophy that seven innings is a long time and anything can happen.”
Hill said that while his team outhit Black Hills 12-5, they lost the game on the defensive end.
“We all know why we lost. We lost because we had nine errors,” he said. “We hit the ball well, but nine errors really cost us the game.”
Richardson and Aho each collected three hits to lead the Eagles.
Justin Elliott took the hard-luck loss for Elma, allowing six runs — one earned — on four hits in four innings pitched.
Elma hosts Napavine at 4:30 p.m. on Monday.
Elma 201 000 5 — 8 12 9
Black Hills 212 104 x — 10 5 4
WP — Jacob Nelson (6 IP, 10 H, 4 ER, 4 K); LP — Elliott (4 IP, 4 H, ER, 6 K, 5 BB)
Top Players: Elma — Aho (3-3, 2B, 3 R), Richardson (3-4, R, 2 RBI), Rustemeyer (2-4, R, 2 RBI); Black Hills — Nelson (1-4, 2 RBI).
— Ryan Sparks, Grays Harbor News Group
Montesano 12, Toutle Lake 0
Trace Ridgway was spectacular in pitching five innings of no-hit baseball to lead Montesano to a 12-0 victory over Toutle Lake on Friday in Montesano.
Ridgway was dominant on the hill for the Bulldogs (3-0), allowing no runs or hits while striking out 10 with just two walks.
The sophomore right-hander was sharp in his second start of the season, throwing 55 of his 78 pitches for strikes and throwing first-pitch strikes to 13 of the 19 batters he faced.
Ridway was also staked with an early lead, as Monte scored 11 runs, including five in the first, over the the first three innings to give Ridway and the Bulldogs defense a comfortable advantage to work with.
Evan Bates and Parker Plato led the way for Monte at the dish. Bates went 2-for-3 with a double and two RBI while Plato had a 2-for-4 day with three runs driven in.
Toutle Lake 000 00 — 0 0 2
Montesano 524 1x — 12 6 2
WP — Ridgway (5 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 10 K, 2 BB); LP — n/a
Top Players: Montesano — Plato (2-4, 2 R, 3 RBI); Bates (2-3, 2 R, 2 RBI); Braeden Dohrmann (1-1, R, 2 RBI).
PREP SOFTBALL
Aberdeen 8, Capital 1
Aberdeen pitcher Jalyn McDaniel allowed just one earned run and Kacie Powell recorded four hits as the Bobcats cruised to an 8-1 victory over the Capital Cougars on Friday in Olympia.
Aberdeen (1-0) erupted for five runs in the second inning and McDaniel made the lead stick, allowing just a scratch run in the fifth inning. The senior hurler scattered four hits while striking out four and walking two in a complete-game performance.
The Bobcats added a pair of runs in the sixth and another in the seventh as Aberdeen outhit Capital 10-4.
Powell led the way for Aberdeen, going 4-for-5 with a double and two runs batted in.
Sierra Hammond also had a multi-hit game, going 2-for-5 with a run and an RBI for a Bobcats team that had six different players collect at least one base hit.
“I was pretty happy with the win,” Aberdeen head coach Scott Wilson said. “Last week, we only got to play those couple of innings and we got a full seven innings in today. We kind of slacked off in the middle innings where we didn’t score any runs, but overall we did pretty well.”
Aberdeen 050 002 1 — 8 10 0
Capital 000 010 0 — 1 4 6
WP — McDaniel (7 IP, 4 H, ER, 4 K, 2 BB); LP — Saavy (3.2 IP, 3 H, 3 R, 3 K, 2 BB).
Top Players: Aberdeen — Powell (4-5, 2 RBI); Hammond (2-5, R, RBI); Hailey Wilson (1-5, 2 R, RBI); Allye Troseth (1-4, R, RBI); Logan Glanz (1-5, RBI); Stephanie Stopsen (1-3, R).
— Ryan Sparks, Grays Harbor News Group
