Maiden softballers bounced, but benefit from postseason experience
At the State A tournament, the third-seeded Maidens would be vexed by Devils for the third time and derailed by Locomotives in the mascot sense of interaction. But though their tournament tour may have been abbreviated, it was no shorter than that of a pair of other fellow third seeds
Against the Lady Blue Devils of Corvallis, Ronan trailed early as the two pitcher mix and match approach of their opponent kept Maiden batters off balance long enough for Corvallis batters to manufacture enough runs to gain an edge. The Maidens managed to plate three during sixth inning action. But not enough time remained to alter the outcome.
Against the Lady Locomotives of Laurel, the Maidens managed to generate a handful of hits against the top caliber pitching of Laurel's mound ace Ella Crookston. Among those was an extra base double by LouRasia Weatherwax. But the task of the Maidens was daunting as they were facing the same pitcher that eventual 2021 champion Polson had to stretch last year's semifinal contest nine innings before they could manufacture a lone run that turned out to be the ticket to advance.
The Maidens bid farewell to a quartet of seniors in hurler Kiara Sherman, infielders Ashlie Welker along with Haylie Webster and Julianna Vizzerra.
Laurel 10, Ronan 0
3NW Ronan (11-13), 2SE Laurel (15-6-1)
Ronan 000 00 – 0 4 2
Laurel 240 04 – 10 15 0
Ella Crookston (10K,1HB) and Taylor Feller. Kiara Sherman 2K,1W) and Harlee Stokes. W – Crookston. L – Sherman (10-13).
RONAN – Ally Luedtke 1-3, Ashlie Welker 0-2, LouRasia Weatherwax 1-2, Sherman 0-2, Kaydance Santos 1-2, Hanna Lytton 1-2, Haylie Webster 0-2, Mira Corum 0-1, Julianna Vizzerra 0-1, Kylee Kelch 0-1.
LAUREL – Mia Andersen 2-4, Taylor Strecker 1-3, Crookston 2-3, Kadence Temple 2-3, Feller 1-3, Charley McLean 1-3, Shelbi Block 2-2, Tierra Langford 2-3, Lexie Stahlman 3-3, (cr) Arlette Nieto.
3B – Block. 2B – Weatherwax; Stahlman, Temple, Crookston. RBIs – Andersen, Crookston, Temple 2, McLean, Langford 2, Stahlman 2. SH – Kelch. BB – Block. HB – Vizzerra. SB – Santos; Andersen 3, Block, Feller, Nieto. CS – Stahlman. Runs – Andersen 2, Strecker, Nieto 2, Feller, McLean, Block 2, Langford. (Fr27May22gm12st)
Corvallis 9, Ronan 3
3NW Ronan (11-12), 2SW Corvallis (15-8)
Ronan 000 003 0 – 3 5 3
Corvallis 140 211 x – 9 11 2
Macee Greenwood (2IP:4K,3H,4W), (3) Gabby Krueger (6K,2H,3W,1HB) and Emma Cashell. Kiara Sherman (3K,3W), (5) Maizy Blixt and Harlee Stokes. W – M.Greenwood. L – Sherman (10-12)
RONAN – Ally Luedtke 2-3, Ashlie Welker 0-3, LouRasia Weatherwax 1-4, Sherman 0-3, Kaydance Santos 1-2, Kamiah PrettyOnTop 0-2, Blixt 0-2, Haylie Webster 0-1, Stokes 0-3, Mira Corum 1-2, (cr) Kylee Kelch.
CORVALLIS – M.Greenwood 1-3, Sydney Wolsky 1-4, Cashell 1-4, Kaitlin McCartney 0-3, Krueger 3-3, Ella Dowd 0-3, Caitlin Nelson 1-1, Trinity McLane 1-4, Sophie Cooper 1-4, Jaydn Greenwood 2-3, (cr) Shaylee Wiedow, Jessica Saturday.
HR – M.Greenwood, Krueger 2. 2B – Luedtke; J.Greenwood, Krueger. RBIs – Luedtke; M.Greenwood 2, Wolsky, Cashell 2, Krueger 3, J.Greenwood. BB – Luedtke, Welker, Sherman, Santos, H.Webster 2, Corum; M.Greenwood, McCartney, Krueger. HB – Santos. CS – Webster. Runs – Santos, Webster, Corum; M.Greenwood, Wiedow 2, Krueger 2, McLane 2, J.Greenwood 2. (Th26May22gm2st)