Hoquiam made the most of its limited opportunities to come away with a 5-4 victory over Montesano in an Evergreen 1A League game at Gable Field on Tuesday.
The Grizzlies (4-2, 4-4) only mustered two hits in the contest, but took advantage of erratic pitching in the sixth inning. Hoquiam strung together four walks and brought home the winning run on a sacrifice fly by Maya Jump.
Hoquiam was led defensively by the pitching of English Hyde. The junior picked the perfect time to start using what head coach Keith Reynvaan called a knuckleball. Hyde worked in around 20 of the off-speed pitches to keep the Bulldogs guessing and let her defense work behind her.
“English had the tough inning, but she bounced back,” Reynvaan said. “She has been harping on me for three years to let her throw the knuckleball and I bet we threw 20 knuckleballs today. She just walked up and said ‘See, I told ya.’ I was really pleased with the way our kids stayed up after they got their four. I was very proud of the girls. They are such good hitters that we dodged some bullets early and kept them close enough that we could catch them and eventually did.”
The Bulldogs (4-1, 10-2) didn’t have trouble putting runners on base. However, scoring those runners proved to be a struggle. Montesano had a hit in five innings, but failed to score until the sixth inning.
“We just had way too many missed opportunities and we made too many mistakes,” Montesano head coach Pat Pace said. “Maybe we need this to kick start ourselves for the second half of the season. These girls are going to bounce back.”
A pitcher’s duel for the majority of the game, the contest seemed for almost five innings as though it would end in a 1-0 victory for the Grizzlies.
Hoquiam took advantage of Montesano starting pitcher Samantha Stanfield’s first walk of the game in the second inning to score the game’s first run. With one out in the second, Stanfield walked Jenna Doll. After Doll advanced on a fielder’s choice, Hoquiam’s Ashley Paladin pulled the ball hard down the left field line for a double to score Doll and give the Grizzlies the lead.
While Hyde worked in the knuckleball to limit the Bulldogs, Stanfield settled in and used her speed to strike out the side in the third.
Montesano stranded runners at second base in each of the first three innings and stranded runners at second and third in the fifth before breaking through in the sixth. The Bulldogs were able to get the leadoff runner aboard for the only time in the game when Josie Toyra bunted aboard to start the sixth. Annie Cristelli pulled the ball through the left side and Cheyann Bartlett reached on a error to load the bases.
Hannah Quinn gave the Bulldogs the lead with a shot through the left side to score Toyra and Cristelli. After a walk, Stanfield doubled to score Bartlett and Quinn and give the Bulldogs a 4-1 lead going into the bottom of the sixth.
The Grizzlies wouldn’t get a hit in the sixth inning, but their patience was rewarded. As the rain began to fall a little bit harder, Stanfield couldn’t find the strike zone. Hoquiam’s Paige Folkers walked to lead off the Grizzlies half of the sixth. After Hyde reached on a fielding error, Stanfield walked Doll to load the bases. Folkers came around to score moments later on a wild pitch before Maddie German and Paladin walked to score another run.
Another wild pitch from Stanfield allowed Doll to come around to score and tie up the contest. Stanfield exited the game as Lindsay Pace entered the circle for the Bulldogs. However, Lindsay Pace struggled to find the strike zone right away and walked Payton Parshall to bring up Jump. Despite falling behind 0-2 in the count, Jump was able to connect and fly out to center to allow German enough time to tag for the go-ahead run.
“Stanfield pitched great for five innings,” Reynvaan said. “She was tough and we had a heck of a time catching up to her. She had the one bad inning and we took advantage of her control problems. I told them ‘Make her throw strikes,’ and I guess it worked.”
Montesano created a chance to score in the seventh with Cristelli singling and reaching third on two wild pitches, but she would be stranded there as Hyde got the final two batters to ground out.
Monte 000 004 0 — 4 10 1 Hoquiam 010 004 X — 5 2 3
Stanfield and Poler; Hyde and German
RBI: Montesano — Stanfield 2, Quinn 2, Poler. Hoquiam — Hyde, Paladin, Jump. Doubles: Montesano — Stanfield, Poler. Hoquiam — Paladin. Two hits: Stanfield, Poler, Cristelli.
Winning pitcher — Hyde (five strikeouts, one walk). Losing pitcher — Stanfield (10 strikeouts, eight walks).
