FORKS — Forks split its Pacific League softball opening doubleheader, walking off the Titans with an RBI double in the bottom of the seventh in a 5-3 win and falling 10-8 in the nitecap at Tillicum Park.
“I’m happy the girls went out and got one of the two games,” coach Traci Kratzer said. “It shows them they still have some things to key in on and fix in the field.
“Our bats were slow to begin with in both games, but we came around. We have been trying to instill the thought of ‘base hits’ for each batter and just string them together.”
Chloe Gaydeski-St. John tripled and earned the win with a complete-game performance in the opener. She also went three-quarters of the way through the second contest.
“She’s our freshman pitcher and she really did a wonderful job of pitching in that first game,” Kratzer said.
Keira Johnson tripled and held down center field defensively.
“She’s very consistent at bat, really a beast up there. And she covers a lot of ground for us in center,” Kratzer said.
Eighth-grader Fynlie Peters stepped into the starting lineup for Elizabeth Soto.
“Fyn really did a wonderful job at third base and also got a double up at bat,” Kratzer said.
Senior leaders Kyra Neel and Kadie Wood also contributed at catcher and shortstop, respectively.
“Kyra doubled for us and she’s doing a really good job behind the plate in taking control of the field and letting our younger players know the situation and what they need to do,” Kratzer said.
“And I can’t say enough good things about Kadie Wood. She’s a beast of a shortstop, she hustles on every play and she did a good job of leading the infield with two eighth-graders on either side of her in Fynlie and Bailey Johnson at second base.”
Kratzer said the squad is continuing to build its culture on and off the field.
“These girls this year are really working hard at building a winning culture, not just with games, but with their teammates. I’m proud of them,” Kratzer said.
Forks (1-1, 1-3) visits Coupeville on Saturday.
Baseball
Rivals drop pair
CHIMACUM — East Jefferson dropped a doubleheader duo of five-inning Nisqually League contests against Cascade Christian on Wednesday, falling 11-0 and 7-4 to the Cougars.
Rivals No. 1 pitcher Brody Moore was forced to leave the mound early due to some arm stiffness.
“Brody Moore had to exit the game after the first inning and that put a damper on things,” coach Ben Lozano said. “His arm stiffened up on him so it wasn’t right for him to keep going. He stayed in the game and played first base and left field.
Aaron Glanz notched East Jefferson’s lone hit in the first game.
“Second game we played much better,” Lozano said. “Ryan Popp pitched the entire game for us in game two and he struck out six, gave up three walks, but he pitched really well for us.”
Devon Bennett-Anderson drove in a pair of runs on two fielders’ choice plays, while Moore had a two-hit game, notching a double and a single.
Freshman Rylan Dunn started both games at shortstop and tallied a single in the second game. Sophomore Pete Giddens also singled for the Rivals and classmate Sawyer Ziel showed some wheels, stealing a couple of bases and scoring on a passed ball.
East Jefferson (0-4) hosts Sequim today at 4 p.m.
