By Michael Carman
Peninsula Daily News
PORT ANGELES — Boulevard Wellness opened up a large lead and hung on as Olympic Labor Council loaded the bases late in an 8-7 Bill Lammie Memorial 12U Softball Championship victory Thursday at Lincoln Park.
The game was a rematch of last season’s title game, won by OLC.
The teams each scored one run in the first inning as Boulevard’s Mikkhia Stevens scored on a passed ball and OLC’s Naomii Sprague walked, stole second and was driven home on an RBI single by Heidi Leitz.
Boulevard looked to have broken the game open in the third, taking advantage of three walks, a hit batter and two solid singles by Kennedy Rognlien and Becca Mason to score six runs and take a 7-1 lead.
Rognlien went 2 for 3 and struck out six in five innings pitched for Boulevard.
OLC didn’t give up, as the squad responded with a four-run fourth, scoring on a two-run double and singles by Leitz and Violet Mills to make it 7-5 Boulevard.
Bowechop struck out two in the top of the fifth and stole home as OLC inched closer, trailing 7-6.
Natalie Robinson reached base on a walk for Boulevard in the top of the sixth, stole second and third base and scored on a passed ball for an 8-6 advantage.
Josephine Edgington pulled OLC back within a run with an inside-the-park home run for an 8-7 score.
Stevens struck out three of the four batters she faced in the bottom of the sixth to earn the save and preserve the championship win for Boulevard. Stevens also went 2 for 3 at the plate.
