It was billed as a matchup of the top two teams in the 2B Pacific League and two perennial-state qualifiers.
By the end of Tuesday’s doubleheader, only one juggernaut was left standing.
Pe Ell-Willapa Valley’s high-powered offense got rolling midway through Game 1 and never slowed down en route to a twinbill sweep over the Ocosta Wildcats on Tuesday in Pe Ell.
SOFTBALL
Pe Ell-Willapa Valley 10, Ocosta 0
For the first three innings of Game 1, Ocosta pitcher Annika Hollingsworth and PWV’s Olivia Matlock shut down the opposing offenses.
Matlock allowed a triple to Ocosta’s Jessie Gilbert in the second inning, but got out of trouble and had six strikeouts — two per inning — over the first three frames of the game.
Hollingsworth matched the 2B Player of the Year front-runner with a stellar first three innings of her own, striking out six and allowing just two singles over three innings, including striking out the side in the first.
“I knew we had been hitting well, but we haven’t faced pitching like (Ocosta) has,” PWV head coach Ken Olson said. “It showed in the early parts of the game. Annika Hollingsworth was mowing us down.”
ERIC TRENT | THE CHRONICLE Ocosta pitcher Annika Hollingsworth held the high-powered PWV offense scoreless through three innings of the first game of a doubleheader on Tuesday in Pe Ell.
But in the bottom of the fourth inning, the heavy-hitting Titans changed tactics to test the Ocosta defense behind Hollingsworth. Uncharacteristically struggling to make contact, PWV went to a “small ball” approach, bunting for base hits and to advance runners to put pressure on Ocosta’s defense.
The strategy worked as PWV broke through against Hollingsworth with one out on an error off a fly ball hit by Grace Huber with two on and one out, earning the Titans a 1-0 lead.
A Sadie Howard bunt single — PWV’s second of the inning — drove home Dani Shannon for a 2-0 lead followed by a two-run error on a Payton Peterson bunt.
Peterson later scored on another Ocosta error, giving PWV a 5-0 lead and turning a close game on its ear.
That got the gears turning for the PWV offense, which would not slow down the remainder of the afternoon, and they no longer needed to play small ball to stay hot.
With one out in the PWV fifth, Annika Mason singled and was followed by three PWV triples in the inning. Ava Bush tripled home Mason, Shannon tripled home Bush, Grace Huber tripled in Shannon and Peterson tripled home Huber in an inning that began to resemble a track meet more so than a softball game.
With the score 9-0, Portmann singled home Peterson to give Ocosta a 10-0 lead and a 10-run rule victory.
“We talked before the game about not giving (PWV) extra outs and that’s what they did a few times,” Ocosta head coach Jason Barnum said.
“You can’t give extra outs,” Olson said. “(Ocosta) did that and once we got rolling it was kind of hard to stop us.”
Matlock was once again dominant in the circle, going the full five innings, allowing just one hit while striking out nine and getting some help from her defense, namely Mason, who cut down Gilbert heading home on a grounder in the second inning and made multiple dazzling plays from her shortstop position throughout the twin bill.
“Annika Mason at shortstop was as good as I’ve ever seen her,” Olson said.
Hollingsworth took the loss, allowing seven runs on seven hits with eight strikeouts and no walks in 4 1/3 innings pitched. Only three of the seven runs Hollingsworth allowed were earned as the Ocosta defense committed four errors in the game.
PWV 19, Ocosta 0
Similar to the last two innings of Game 1, PWV’s offense stayed hot while the Ocosta defense committed too many errors as the Titans earned a sweep over the Wildcats with a three-inning victory in the night cap.
Eight of nine PWV starters got a hit in the game and all nine scored at least one run as the Titans smashed 18 hits against Wildcat pitching.
“We’re a good-hitting team,” Olson said. “And what I liked about it is we made adjustments.”
Nine of PWV’s 18 hits went for extra bases, including a monster solo home run to left-center in the PWV 10-run third by Matlock that clanged off the metal roof of an adjacent structure and was estimated at 275 feet (center field fence is 230).
RYAN SPARKS | THE DAILY WORLD PWV’s Olivia Matlock smashes a home run to deep left-center field during the Titans 19-0 victory in Game 2 of a doubleheader against Ocosta on Tuesday in Pe Ell.
“That ball she hit to the roof … was the farthest anybody has hit it,” said Olson, which is high praise considering the state-championship talent that has played for PWV during his tenure. “Nineteen years at Centralia and seven here, I’ve never seen one hit that far, especially in a game.”
“I saw it right down the middle and when I hit it, I instantly knew it was out,” Matlock said of her epic blast, her seventh of the year and sixth in the last seven games. “It just felt good and it felt right.”
Matlock, who entered the day hitting .808, went hitless in the opener with two strikeouts and said she was glad to get back on track in the night cap.
“It felt amazing. It made me feel better because the first game was not good,” she said laughingly, adding she was pleased to have a dirty uniform after sliding back into first base after getting caught off the bag in a rundown. “Usually, I don’t base run. Pitchers don’t usually do that. It was just fun because usually I don’t get my uniform dirty but I like it. It just feels good and makes me look like I’m a ballplayer.”
Matlock went 3-for-3 with the home runs, a double, two runs and four RBI to lead PWV (11-0 overall, 8-0 2B Pacific).
The Titans offensive machine also had multi-hit games from Annika Mason (3-4, 2 2B, 2R, 3RBI), Raegann Portmann (2-4, 2B, 3R, RBI), Merissa Frasier (2-3, 2B, 3R, 3RBI), Dani Shannon (2-3, 2B, 2R, 3RBI) and Payton Peterson (2-3, 2R, 2RBI).
Grace Huber (1-3, 2B, RBI) and Ava Bush (1-1, 3B, 2BB, RBI) also had run-scoring extra-base hits in the game.
RYAN SPARKS | THE DAILY WORLD PWV’s Grace Huber heads to third base during PWV’s 19-0 win over Ocosta in Game 2 of a doubleheader on Tuesday in Pe Ell. The Titans had 16 hits in the three-inning victory.
Matlock picked up her second win of the day, allowing a lone single to Trinity White while striking out three in three innings.
The doubleheader sweep gives PWV some breathing room heading into the final week of the season. The Titans lead Forks (8-3, 8-2) by a full game in the standings with the two teams scheduled to meet on Friday in a doubleheader in Forks.
Ocosta (9-3, 7-3) drops to third in the standings after entering the day just a half-game behind PWV for the league lead. The Wildcats could still end up with the second seed in the league heading into the district tournament if PWV sweeps Forks and the Wildcats win both games of a doubleheaders against South Bend next Tuesday.
Montesano 19, Elma 6
Montesano’s offense recorded 24 hits as the Bulldogs defeated East County rival Elma in the first game of a doubleheader in Elma.
Montesano third baseman Jessica Stanfield had a productive game, going 4-for-4 with two doubles, a triple, five runs scored, and four RBI that included a line-drive two-run home run to center field to give Monte a 10-1 lead in the top of the third inning.
Landree Dohrmann (3-5, 2B, R, RBI), Cassadie Golding (3-5, 3R, RBI), Grace Geer (3-4, 2B, 3R), Mikayla Stanfield (3-4, 2B, 3R) and Riley Timmons (3-4, 3RBI) had three hits apiece for the Bulldogs (7-0, 6-0 1A Evergreen) with Jordan Karr (2-3, R, 2RBI) and Reghann Fairbairn (2-3, 2B, R, 4RBI) recording two hits each.
Elma (1-5-1, 1-4-1) was led by Aaleigha Weld (2-3, 2B, R, 2RBI) and Chloe Clark (2-3, 2B, R, 2RBI).
Fairbairn (3.2IP, ER, 4H, 5K, BB) earned the win with Elma pitcher Delayne Hanson (4IP, 14ER, 18H, 3BB) taking the loss.
Montesano 18, Elma 4
Montesano scored 10 runs in the first inning, highlighted by a Reghann Fairbairn two-run home run, en route to a victory in the nightcap of the doubleheader.
Jessica Stanfield led Monte’s offense, going 4-for-5 with two doubles, a triple, four runs scored and three RBI. One of the top candidates for 1A Player of the Year, Stanfield finished the doubleheader with eight hits, four doubles, two triples, a home run, nine runs scored and seven RBI.
Cassadie Golding (3-4, 2B, 2R, 3RBI), Grace Geer (3-4, 2B, 3RBI), Jordan Karr (3-4, R, RBI), Mikayla Stanfield (3-4, 2R, 2RBI) and Landree Dohrmann (2-4, 3B, 4R, 2RBI) also had multi-hit games for a Monte offense that had 21 hits in the game.
Riley Timmons earned the victory in the circle for Monte, allowing four earned runs on 10 hits with three strikeouts and three walks in 4 2-3 innings.
Elma was led by Janessa Sample (3-3, 2B, 3RBI), Emmie Spencer (3-3, R, RBI) and Aaleigha Weld (2-3, 3B, R).
Delayne Hanson took the loss for Elma, allowing 10 earned runs on 10 hits in a 1-3 innings pitched.
Tenino 12, Hoquiam 2
Hoquiam lost by 10 runs to Tenino 12-2 in the first game of a doubleheader in Tenino.
Tauni Hilliard (2-3) and Ella Folkers (1-3) collected hits for Hoquiam (4-4, 4-2 1A Evergreen).
Emily Baxter hit two home runs for Tenino (2-5) in the game, one of those coming in a six-run sixth inning for the Beavers.
Hilliard took the loss, allowing 12 earned runs on 17 hits with three strikeouts in 5 2-3 innings pitched.
Hoquiam 7, Tenino 5
Hoquiam earned a split of Tuesday’s twin bill with Tenino, downing the Beavers 7-5 in the nightcap.
Carron Blood led the way for Hoquiam, going 3-for-4 and tying the game at 4-4 in the fourth inning with a two-run home run to left field.
Ella Folkers (2-4, 2B, R), Graci Bonney-Spradlin (2-4, 2B, 2R) and Emily Elders (2-4, R, RBI) also had multiple hits in the game for the Grizzlies.
Blood earned the victory for Hoquiam, allowing five runs (three earned) on six hits with seven strikeouts and seven walks in seven innings pitched.
PHOTO BY LARRY BALE Raymond’s Izzy Silvernail, left, tags out South Bend’s Makaylee Kuiken at home plate during a doubleheader on Tuesday in Raymond.
Other scores
Raymond 16, South Bend 1
Raymond 23, South Bend 2
Forks 28, North Beach 0
Forks 25, North Beach 0
