Aberdeen dropped to second place in the 2A EvCo while Elma beat Hoquiam in a close 1A Evergreen League matchup as we review Friday’s Twin Harbors prep softball games.
PREP SOFTBALL
Tumwater 5, Aberdeen 0
In games featuring top-quality pitching, every single mistake is magnified.
For the Aberdeen Bobcats, a string of miscues in one disastrous inning proved to be the difference in a 5-0 loss to Tumwater in a first-place matchup on Friday at the Bishop Athletic Complex in Aberdeen.
The Bobcats (6-2 overall, 3-1 2A Evergreen) and Thunderbirds (7-1, 3-0) engaged in a scoreless tie as two of the 2A class’ top pitchers in Aberdeen junior Lilly Camp and Tumwater junior Ella Ferguson racked up the outs through the first three innings.
RYAN SPARKS | THE DAILY WORLD Aberdeen’s Scotlyn Lecomte is nicked by a pitch during a 5-0 loss to Tumwater on Friday in Aberdeen.
But in the top of the fourth inning, bad Bobcats fortunes led to a big inning for the Thunderbirds.
A walk to Jaime Haase followed by a Marissa La Praim single and an error on an Avery Sugg bunt loaded the bases with no outs.
Elizabeth McCartney snuck a single through to right field, scoring Haas with the game’s first run.
Chloe Foos worked a bases-loaded walk to make it a 2-0 game and, after a ground out to Aberdeen third baseman Britten Neal cut down a run at home, another bases-loaded walk to Erika Schock forced in the T-Birds’ third run of the frame.
Neal threw out another runner at home for the second out of the inning, giving Aberdeen a chance to get out of the frame without any further damage. But an error on a Ferguson ground ball allowed two runs to score, putting Tumwater up 5-0.
The Thunderbirds scored five runs on on three walks, two errors and just one hit in the fourth.
“As far as the Tumwater hitters, not one of them drove the ball to the outfield,” Aberdeen head coach Jimmy McDaniel said of the inning. “We kept the ball in play and did what we wanted to do, we just failed that one inning and that’s a tough one.”
RYAN SPARKS | THE DAILY WORLD Tumwater pitcher Ella Ferguson held Aberdeen scoreless on two hits in the Bobcats’ 5-0 loss on Friday at the Bishop Athletic Complex in Aberdeen.
That was more than enough run support for Ferguson as the University of Nevada commit held a hot-hitting Aberdeen club to just two hits while striking out 15.
Aberdeen outfielder Scotlyn Lecomte and first baseman/pitcher Annika Hollingsworth had one hit apiece to lead the Bobcats.
Hollingsworth entered the circle in the fifth inning and allowed no runs on two hits with three strikeouts over the final three innings.
With the loss, Aberdeen now sits a half-game back of Tumwater in the race for the top spot in the 2A Evergreen Conference.
RYAN SPARKS | THE DAILY WORLD Aberdeen senior pitcher Annika Hollingsworth pitched three scoreless innings in a 5-0 loss to Tumwater on Friday in Aberdeen.
After the game, McDaniel said his talk with his team focused on minimizing mistakes against a top-flight pitcher such as Ferguson.
“The thing we touched on with the team, was it came down to that one inning. You X that inning out, it’s a 0-0 ballgame,” he said. “We talked a lot about controlling the controllables. We can control that, but we have to recover mentally when those things happen because we let it escalate.”
McDaniel added he discussed the potential for the near future, which includes two more cracks as the Thunderbirds.
“Our mindset is one game at a time. … There is still a lot of season left to play,” he said. “As long as we learn from today’s game and build from there, we’ll be just fine.”
SUBMITTED PHOTO Aberdeen’s Laynie Yakovich, middle, was honored for recording the 100th hit of her prep career on Friday in Aberdeen. Yakovich reached the milestone during a game on March 16 against Hoquiam and is flanked by her mother Haley and sister Alyssa.
During the game, Aberdeen honored outfielder Laynie Yakovich, who collected the 100th hit of her prep career in a win over Hoquiam on March 16.
Aberdeen will host Centralia at 4 p.m. on Wednesday, April 10.
Tumwater 000 500 0 – 5 6 0
Aberdeen 000 000 0 – 0 2 2
WP: Ferguson (7 IP, 0R, 2H, 15K, 3BB). LP: Camp (4 IP,5R, 3ER, 4H, 5K, 3BB).
Leading hitters: Tumwater – La Praim (2-4, R); McCartney (2-3, R, RBI); Schock (2-2, R, RBI). Aberdeen – Hollingsworth (1-2, BB); Lecomte (1-2).
Elma 6, Hoquiam 5
Elma got out to a sizable lead before holding off a late Hoquiam rally to pick up a 6-5 win on Friday in Elma.
The Eagles (3-1, 1-0 1A Evergreen) scored a pair of runs in the bottom of the first on a double by center fielder Mia Monroe to score Raelynn Weld and an RBI single off the bat of first baseman Callie Galligan.
Galligan drove in Monroe for the second time in the game with a fielder’s choice ground out in the third, making it a 3-0 lead for Elma.
The Eagles extended the lead to 6-0 with a three-run fifth, highlighted by an Aubree Simmons two-run double and a Aaleigha Weld RBI single.
Hoquiam (1-7, 0-1) rallied for four runs in the top of the sixth, highlighted by a Faith Prosch RBI single followed by a two-run double off the bat of first baseman Avery Howard.
The Grizzlies cut the deficit to one run on a Lexi LaBounty two-out double to score left fielder Mya Standstipher, making it a 6-5 game.
With LaBounty representing the tying run at second, Elma starting pitcher Ashlynn Weld got Prosch to fly out to Monroe in center to end the game.
“We’ve been itching for a game all week and finally got a chance to take the field against Hoquiam,” said Elma head coach Ashley Stancil, whose team had to deal with rainouts earlier in the week. “The way this group enjoys all the little things is what will make this season so special. Second-chance plays are what helped us win today. We have a lot of room to grow with a lot of potential and great senior leaders to get us where we want to be.”
Monroe, Raelynn Weld and Chloey Donais had two hits apiece to lead the Eagles, which had 11 hits in the game.
Freshman Ashlynn Weld picked up the win, allowing five runs – three earned – on four hits and five walks with six strikeouts in the complete-game victory.
Hoquiam was led by Howard, LaBounty, Prosch and Standstipher with one hit apiece.
Kayte Sauer took the loss for the Grizzlies, allowing six earned runs on 11 hits with a walk and a strikeout in six innings pitched.
Hoquiam faces Lakeside (Nine Mile Falls) at 1 p.m. on Saturday in Montesano.
Elma plays at Black Hills at 4 p.m. on Monday, April 8.
Hoquiam 000 004 1 – 5 4 1
Elma 201 030 x – 6 11 1
WP: Ash. Weld (7 IP, 5R, 3ER, 4H, 6K, 5BB). LP: Sauer (6 IP, 6R, 6ER, 11H, K, BB).
Leading hitters: Hoquiam – Howard (1-3, 2B, 2RBI); LaBounty (1-4, 2B, R, RBI); Prosch (1-4, R, RBI); Standstipher (1-4, R) . Elma – Monroe (2-4, 2B, 2R, RBI); R. Weld (2-4, R); Donais (2-3); Simmons (1-3, 2B, R, 2RBI); Galligan (1-3, 2RBI).
Other games
Muckleshoot Tribal 14, Wishkah Valley 2
