Mission scores first victory of the season

Zach Urness

Leader Staff

The Mission Lady Bulldogs rode the powerful bat of freshman Katie McDonald and the experienced arm of senior Ashley Mitchell to their first win of the season, beating conference foe Plains last Thursday, 7-4. They also dropped a tough one to Florence earlier in the week, 4-0.

“This is the first varsity victory for a lot of these girls and so that's a pretty big deal," said Lady Bulldog head coach Steve Woll. “Just getting the first win of the season is a big deal.”

Senior pitcher Ashley Mitchell, who struggled with her control through the first three games of the season, got the Lady 'Dogs off to a good start against Plains. She set the tone with strikeouts against the first two batters she faced, and continued to look strong, holding the Trotters scoreless through the first four innings.

Mission threatened on offense in the first two innings, getting hits from Mitchell and Rachel Jensen, but were unable to get any runs across the plate until the third inning, when frosh sensation Katie McDonald knocked her second home run of the young season over the left-field fence, giving Mission a 2-0 lead.

The third inning could have been an even more prosperous one for the Lady Dogs, who failed to capitalize on a bases-loaded, nobody-out situation because of baserunning errors and crafty defense from the Plains catcher whose rocket arm from behind the plate picked off Lady Bulldogs in the third and fourth innings.

“Our baserunning was atrocious,” said Woll. “We have to work on the small things — we're young — and we have a lot to work on.”

After hanging another zero on the Trotters in the top of the fourth, Mitchell came up in the bottom half with the bases juiced and two outs and delivered a single that scored two runs. Cleanup hitter Genna Bosley followed by rocketing a pitch into left field to score two more runs and extend the lead to 6-0. Both players finished the game with two hits and two RBI's.

The lone hiccup for Mitchell on the mound came in the fifth, when she walked the bases full and gave up a one-out triple and a bloop single that scored four Trotters. The All-State pitcher bore down in the sixth and seventh innings, though, and kept Plains off the board to preserve the victory.

For the game she gave up only two hits, while walking six and striking out four.

“She threw strikes when she needed too,” said Woll of Mitchell. “There were still too many walks, but she looked good overall.”

Mission added an insurance run in the sixth inning on an infield hit from Lisa Larsson that scored Bosley.

After the game Woll said that while his team certainly has some things to work on, he was pleased with the way some of his younger players like McDonald and Dalena Weaselhead — who went 2-for-3 on the day — were hitting.

“They hit the ball with some authority,” he said.

Rachel Jensen also went 2-for-2.

Mission had a tougher time on Tuesday, April 3 against Florence, whose highly touted pitcher Kate Street allowed Mission only three hits and zero runs in a 4-0 loss. Lisa Larsson and Carley Allstad both had hits in the game.

"We did some good things and we did some not so good things," said Woll of the week. "But we have plenty of things to work on for practice this week."

Mission’s overall record is now 1-3.

The Lady 'Dogs played Thompson Falls as the Leader went to press on Tuesday, April 10. They will take on Troy at home this afternoon (Thursday, April 12).