PORT ANGELES — A young Sequim softball team stuck close with No. 1-ranked Port Angeles early, but after Wolves’ pitchers had trouble finding the strike zone in the third inning and the opportunistic Riders took advantage and erupted for 10 runs over two innings en route to a 14-2 victory.
Sequim coach Mike McFarlan said, “This is a super young team [seven sophomores and freshmen]. I told to just hang in there. They will get better.
McFarlan said Taylee Rome, who hit a two-run home run, her third of the season, had a good game, as did catcher Michaela Green behind the plate. He said Green made a number of great plays behind the plate and is one of the best catchers in the Olympic League.
Port Angeles, 11-1 overall, came in to the game ranked No. 1 in the state in Ratings Percentage Index.
Mikkhia Stevens had an RBI double to the fence after nearly taking coach Morgan Worthington’s head off with a hard-hit foul ball. She also made two great running catches in the center field on long drives by Sequim hitters, one of them with two runners on to end an inning. She said the Roughriders don’t get caught up in the No. 1 ranking.
“We’re just staying the course,” she said. “We’re staying confident without being cocky. We just play ball and have fun.”
Worthington agreed about the girls not getting wrapped up in the RPI ranking.
“It’s just a number,” she said. “It doesn’t get us to where we want to be. We want to play completely through May.”
Worthington said the Riders did a good job adjusting in the batter’s box. After Rome’s home run, Sequim was down just 4-2 in the third inning. Sequim pitcher Navaeh Owens kept the Riders under control for a couple of innings, but when she started having some control issues, the Port Angeles batters were patient and didn’t swing at pitches out of the strike zone, filling up the basepaths for sluggers like Robinson, Kennedy Rognlien and Lynzee Reid.
Robinson kept up her torrid hitting, going 3-for-4 with two doubles and four RBIs. For the season, she is batting an incredible .537 (22-for-41) with 15 extra-base hits, including six home runs. She has 21 RBIs in 12 games, and her slugging is 1.268 and her OPS (on-base plus slugging) is a Ruthian 1.846.
Reid pitched the entire game, allowing four hits and striking out three. She went 2-for-3 at the plate with a double and RBI. Rognlien was 2-for-4 with two RBIs while Heidi Leitz walked three times, scored three runs and had three RBIs.
For the Wolves, Rome was 2-for-3, while Green and Kiley Winter also had hits.
Owens went 2⅓ innings, allowing three hits and seven earned runs. She struck out two.
Rilynn Whitehead pitched 1⅔ innings, allowing two hits and just one earned run.
Port Angeles (7-0, 11-1) next plays at Bremerton (3-4, 4-4) at 4:15 p.m. today. Sequim (0-6, 1-7) is at Bainbridge (1-6, 4-8) at 4:15 p.m. today.
Port Angeles 14, Sequim 2
Seq. 0 0 2 0 0 x x — 2 4 1
PA 2 2 5 5 x x — 14 11 1
Pitching
Sequim — Owens 2.1 IP, 3 H, 7 ER, 2 K; Whitehead 1.2 IP, 2 H, ER.
PA — Reid 5 IP, 4 H, 3 K.
Hitting
Sequim — Rome 2-3, HR, R, 2 RBI; Winter 1-3, Green 1-3.
PA — Robinson 3-4, 4 RBI, 2 2B, R; Rognlien 2-4, 2 RBI; Reid 2-3, 2B, R, RBI, Stevens 1-2, 2B, 2R, RBI, BB; Sheahan 1-2, R, RBI, BB; Leitz 0-1, 3 RBI, 3 BB, 3 R.
