WILSON COUNTY, N.C. — North Olympic is going to need a lot of help if it’s to advance at the Babe Ruth 12U Softball World Series.
Port Angeles’ all-star squad dropped two straight games in pool play this weekend, putting it behind the eight ball with just one game to go before the double-elimination bracket begins Tuesday.
North Olympic (1-2 in pool play) needs to beat Plaquemine, La., today, and have Kingston/Lenoir, N.C., do the same on Monday in order to advance.
That figures to be a tall order since Plaquemine is 2-0 in pool play so far.
“Stranger things have happened,” North Olympic coach Randy Steinman said. “We’ve been falling apart in one inning.
“If we can just keep from that, we can play with any team here.”
Miscues hurt North Olympic in both losses this weekend.
That began with a 12-8 setback to Kingston/Lenoir on Friday and ended with a 10-2 defeat at the hands of Everest, Wisc., on Saturday.
North Olympic committed eight errors combined in those games, leading to a total of 15 unearned runs.
“We’ve played good softball,” Steinman said. “We’ve just made a few mistakes. And if you make a few mistakes against the caliber of teams we’re playing, they take advantage of it in a big way.”
Indeed, two North Olympic errors sparked an eight-run second inning in Saturday’s loss, chasing ace pitcher Sarah Steinman (1-1) from the game.
The day before, five errors in the fifth and sixth innings turned what was a 7-3 advantage into a 12-7 hole that was too big to dig out of.
“You cannot give teams any more than three outs an inning,” Steinman said of the errors. “We didn’t get beat, we beat ourselves.”
Ashlee Reid led the North Olympic bats in both games, going a combined 5-for-7 with two doubles, a triple, three runs scored and an RBI.
Sarah Steinman was 2-for-3 with a triple, two RBIs and a run on Friday, while Lois Harding had a double and two runs scored.
Hannah Stewart smacked a double in Saturday’s loss.
“We’re hitting the ball okay,” Randy Steinman said. “We just need to string some hits together and limit the mistakes and we’ll be fine.”
(Friday) Eastern N.C. 12, North Olympic 8
Eastern NC 1 1 1 0 4 5 – 12 10 2
North Olympic 5 0 1 1 0 1 — 8 7 5
LP- Stewart
Pitching Statistics
North Olympic: Dusti Lucas 4.2IP, ER, K; Hanna Stewart 1.1IP, 3ER.
Hitting Statistics
North Olympic: Sarah Steinman 2-3 (3B, 2RBI, R); Ashlee Reid 3-4 (2 2B, 2R); Lois Harding 1-3 (2B, HBP, RBI, 2R).
Eastern N.C.: Kaci Morgan 3-4 (3B, 3RBI).
(Saturday) Everest 10, North Olympic 2
North Olympic 0 0 2 0 0 0 – 2 6 3
Everest 0 8 0 0 2 X — 10 4 0
WP- Rachel Connaly ; LP- Sarah Steinman (1-1)
Pitching Statistics
North Olympic: Steinman 1.2IP, 2K, 4BB, 2 hits, 7R (2ER); Hannah Stewart 3.1IP, K, 2hits, 3BB, 3R (ER).
Team: Connaly 3IP, 2R; Williams 3IP, 2 hits, 4K.
Hitting Statistics
North Olympic: Ashlee Reid 2-3 (3B, R, RBI), Hannah Stewart 1-3 (2B).
