Medical Lake stayed in the hunt for a high seed in the upcoming Northeast A League softball playoffs, and maintained their mathematical chances at catching league-leading Lakeside with a 2-0 week.
The Cardinals (9-3 NEA, 10-3 overall) got two impressive offensive performances in scoring wins of 10-3 and 16-13 over Freeman (3-9, 3-10) last Friday at home. A Tuesday contest at Newport was rained out but rescheduled for Friday, May 2.
Medical Lake’s long-ball bats propelled the Cards in their opening game as they stroked four doubles, a pair of triples and a home run out of their 14 hits.
Jordan Soliday offered up book-end triples in the opener. “She started the game with a triple and had one, too, in her last at bat,” head coach Tim Blakely said.
Medical Lake started the day with a 5-run first, added three more in the second on the way to the 10-3 win. Freshman Glori Cheevers had a 3-run homer in the 3-run third inning in the opener.
Chelsea Hamby went the distance in the opener scattering nine hits. “(She) hasn’t had much time on the mound this year, this is her second game,” Blakely said.
“We had a pretty solid defense that first game,” Blakely said. “We had three errors, one throwing, but they didn’t hurt us.”
In the wild second game, the teams were tied through two innings at 5-5 before Medical Lake scored twice in the third and three more in the fourth to lead 10-5. It was a good thing they built the cushion as the Scotties outscored the Cards 8-6 in the fifth and sixth to once again make it interesting.
“Those two innings they didn’t score kind of helped us but they made up for it in the fifth and sixth,” Blakely said.
Shelby Pavao had what her coach said was a good, but not great outing pitching. “That opened up the opportunity late in the game to bring Jordan (Soliday) in and close the game out,” and get the win.
In the second game, Medical Lake had 15 hits, and all but one, Bradyn Wegner’s double, were singles. “We had a lot of contact in the second game,” Blakely said. “Some of the girls that had been struggling at the plate actually made great contact.” Unfortunately, he added, “They were hit right at people.”
Wegner, Taylor Pruitt and Hamby each had a pair of RBIs. “We did get some timely hitting with runners on base,” Blakely said.
The Cards have the more than typical busy week, having played a nonleague game at Reardan this past Tuesday, a rescheduled contest at Newport Friday and are home for a big showdown with league–leading Lakeside (12-0, 12-0) for a doubleheader Saturday starting at 11. Medical Lake lost a 10-inning game at Lakeside 9-8 April 16.
Paul Delaney can be reached at pdelaney@cheneyfreepress.com.
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