Medical Lake softball continues to hit well in streak

Medical Lake softball came away with a pair of wins in the games that really counted last week.

The Cardinals collected a pair of Northeast A League wins, 10-4 over Freeman on April 11 and 16-1 over Riverside, April 15. In between was 9-8 loss to West Plains' rival, Cheney, in a nonleague contest played April 14.

In staying in the hunt for first place, trailing Lakeside by a game, Medical Lake (4-1 NEA, 5-2 overall) got both a lot of hits and kept their run production high in winning four consecutive NEA contests. The Cardinals are scoring an average of 13 runs a game in that span.

And backing up the offense has been solid pitching.

"Suzanne Shores has just been holding the fort down," head coach Tim Blakely said. "For a sophomore, she's really stepped in," taking over for projected starter, Taylor Carpenter who continues to rehab from a knee injury sustained in basketball.

Shores' "Pitching better than a sophomore without any varsity experience," Blakely said of the kid he coached in eighth grade. "She got with a pitching coach and has developed more pitches."

And Shores did her part with the bat against Freeman (0-4, 0-4), clubbing a big two-run home run. The third-inning blast, hit to right-center field, was never in doubt from the time it left Shores' bat. "The ball was hit really high and cleared the fence by 20 feet," Blakely said of the poke at Reinking Field that put her team ahead 4-1.

Taylor Pavao went 3 for 4 with 3 RBIs and a triple, Ashlyn Tamietti 2 for 3.

Freshman Allison Duncan was 2 for 5 with three runs batted in to lead the Cardinals.

On the road at Riverside (1-5, 1-7), Medical Lake led 1-0 after one but turned it on to bring a quick end to the "Mercy Rule" shortened game after just three innings. The Cards got five runs in the second and 10 in the third.

"We were a little impatient in the first inning but got the bats rolling," Blakely said.

Shores pitched another gem, allowing just two hits and facing just 11 batters.

One of the hits, however, was a home run that Blakely said will be a learning experience. "She gave up a home run, she missed a location," Blakely said. "In games like that it's a learning process for a young pitcher."

The Cheney game, where the Cards watched an 8-1 lead vanish in the sixth as the Lady Blackhawks scored three, and five in the seventh inning to win in walk-off fashion, was maybe best described as a moral victory of sorts, Blakely hinted.

"They only scored nine runs on us and they've been averaging 18-22 runs a game," Blakely said. "It's hard to hold down that team, they just hit that ball."

Sarah Mayer had three hits with Lexi Redell and Hannah Petek two each, adding doubles for the Cardinals.

Weather permitting, the Cards were to have hosted Chewelah April 18 and been on the road at Colville, today, April 20 at 4:30.

Paul Delaney can be reached at pdelaney@cheneyfreepress.com.