PORT ANGELES — One swing of the bat by Olympic undid five-plus innings of nice work by the Port Angeles softball team and tied the teams at 3-3 heading to the bottom of the sixth inning.
But Roughriders seniors Alyssa Wetzler and Carly Gouge were having no part of seeing Port Angeles’ senior night festivities ruined and their team’s unbeaten record marred in Thursday’s game.
Wetzler blooped a two-out single just over the infield to center field, and Gouge followed with a double deep to the gap in left-center, just beyond the reach of a diving Brittany Brown, to bring a racing Wetzler home from first for the game-winning run in a 4-3 win over the Trojans.
“They tie it up and we come back and get two quick outs, but the best part on senior night is Alyssa Wetzler, senior, comes out and gets the base hit and then Carly Gouge, senior, gets one to the gap to score the game-winning run,” Riders coach Randy Steinman said.
Gouge, a team captain and leadoff hitter, adjusted her usual slap-hitting routine to accommodate the situation.
“I wanted to get on base, get a hit, score the run and just do whatever I could to keep the inning alive,” Gouge said.
Gouge went opposite-field with the pitch.
“It was outside-half [of the plate] so I tried to square it up,” she said.
“It wasn’t piped but it was belt-high.”
Gouge, who ended up 3 for 4 at the plate on the day, started the game off for Port Angeles with a leadoff single to left field.
Freshman Natalie Steinman then got underneath a pitch from Trojans pitcher Whitney Villlalobos, sending a deep fly ball over the fence in left-center field for her sixth home run of the season and a 2-0 Riders lead.
Port Angeles added another run on an errant throw to take a 3-0 lead after three innings.
The Riders’ ace pitcher, sophomore Nizhoni Wheeler, cruised through the game’s first five innings, striking out eight and allowing only three base runners.
After walking the first batter in the top of the sixth, Wheeler picked up her ninth strikeout before allowing a single to short left field.
Up came Olympic’s Adia Roberts, and out went a three-run home run to left-center, erasing the Port Angeles lead.
Wheeler walked the next batter, but came back strong with two straight strikeouts to end the Olympic threat.
Wetzler and Gouge worked their two-out magic in the bottom half of the inning to put the Riders back on top and Port Angeles fought through a Trojans challenge in their last at-bat.
“The nice thing is the girls were fine [mentally],” Randy Steinman said.
“They came back and got the run. And then [Olympic] comes back and threatened in the last inning, but Nizhoni held her composure and got them out in the end.”
Wheeler gave up a walk to open the frame, rallied for a three-pitch strikeout, then allowed a single to left field to Zoe Roberts.
Another strikeout was followed by a wild pitch to the Trojans’ power-hitting freshman Kaira Cabato that moved the runners to second and third base with two out.
Wheeler and Cabato squared off, the count running full at three balls and two strikes before Wheeler fired the final pitch past a looking Cabato for her 14th and final strikeout of the contest.
“She was awesome,” Gouge said of Wheeler’s pitching prowess.
“She hit her spots and was really doing well. And she did a great job of coming back strong after giving up the home run.
“It means a lot to us to have her out there on the mound.”
Steinman was pleased with his team’s toughness in Thursday’s game.
“We didn’t make any errors the whole game,” Steinman said.
“We played a great ball game, a very clean ball game, and just made the one mistake and it got them three runs.
“But I’m really proud of the girls. It was a good bounce-back for us.”
The winning margin was the closest of the season for the Riders (9-0, 14-0), and provided a good test in advance of the postseason.
“This is what we are going to see at districts,” Steinman said.
“So, absolutely, this is good preparation for districts.”
Port Angeles hosts Sequim (8-2, 11-4) on Tuesday with a chance to clinch the Olympic League title with a win against its rival.
“We held our senior night today because Alyssa is heading to Japan as part of the sister-city exchange program, and although we have another home game, we couldn’t have a senior night without her,” Steinman said.
“And from start to finish it was a great day.”
Port Angeles 4, Olympic 3
Olympic 0 0 0 0 0 3 0 — 3 4 2
Port Angeles 2 0 1 0 0 1 x — 4 10 0
WP- Wheeler; LP- Villalobos
Pitching Statistics
Olympic: Villalobos 6 IP, 4 R, 10 H, K, BB.
Port Angeles: Wheeler 7 IP, 4 H, 3 ER, 4 BB, HB, 14 K.
Hitting Statistics
Olympic: Z. Roberts 2-2, BB, R; A. Roberts 1-3, HR, 3 RBI, R
Port Angeles: Steinman 2-3, HR, 2 RBI, R; Carly Gouge 3-4, 2B, RBI, R; Clark 2-3, Gray 1-2, Wetzler 1-3, R; Howell 1-3.
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Sports reporter Michael Carman can be contacted at 360-452-2345, ext. 5250 or at mcarman@peninsuladailynews.com.