Lady Outlaws have good week on the diamond

With their bats remaining hot, the Sisters High School varsity girls softball team won two of three games the week of April 14-18 to move into third place in Sky-Em League standings.

Collecting 16 hits, the Outlaws defeated La Pine, 18-4, on April 14, then collecting 12 hits, the Outlaws defeated Cottage Grove on April 18, 13-1. Both games ended after five innings due to the 10-run rule. In between the league victories was a 6-3 loss to Junction City, but in that game the bats were still hot, although seven line drives ended up in the gloves of Tiger players.

"We out-hit them, 6-4, but had seven line drives that were caught," said coach Tom Mauldin. "And two of the line-drive catches were very good plays, including one in the fifth inning with the score tied 3-3 and a runner on. That hurt. But we hit the ball hard, and that's what we ask of the players. Line-drive outs are part of the game."

The coach also noted that only four at bats in the loss to Junction City were not good at bats. Against La Pine, six Outlaws had two hits or more with Camille Pedersen leading the way with three hits and four runs batted in.

Sam Stoneback, Ashley Huber, Hill Renz, Mckenzie Cooper and Jenny Kaiser had two each. Cassie Hernandez, Huber and Cooper each had two RBI. Stoneback scattered eight hits and struck out seven in her five innings on the mound.

The Outlaws failed to score only in the third inning but managed three in the first, a dozen in the second and three in the fourth.

Against Cottage Grove, it was much the same with the Outlaws scoring five in the second, three in the third, two in the fourth and three in the fifth. Renz lead the way with a perfect day to the plate, singling four times and driving home three runs. JJ Ashley and Kaiser each singled twice and drove in teammates. Stoneback picked up her seventh win of the season, limiting the host Lions to three hits. She struck out four, walked two and hit one.

While she picked up two pitching victories in the wins over La Pine and Cottage Grove, Stoneback certainly pitched well enough against Junction City. A few costly misplays enabled the Tigers to score five unearned runs.

The win over Cottage Grove completed the first round of Sky-Em League play with Marist on top at 6-0, followed by Junction City at 5-1 and the Lady Outlaws, 4-2. Elmira 3-3, Cottage Grove 2-4, La Pine 1-5 and Pleasant Hill 0-6 round out the standings.

The Outlaws were scheduled to travel to Elmira April 22, then host the state's top-ranked 4A team, Marist (15-1, 6-0) Thursday at SHS. Overall, the Outlaws are 9-8.

Summarizing the first round of league play, Mauldin said he liked the way the girls were running the bases and being aggressive at the plate. He also noted that in five of the six games, each of the 12 players had seen playing time.