Going back-and-forth through most of the early innings before a Saige Brindle home run put W.F. West softball ahead of Rochester in the third. That would turn out to be enough in a 6-2 Bearcat win Wednesday afternoon at Rec Park in Chehalis.
Brindle provided the firepower on the hit to put the Bearcats’ ahead, mashing a 2-run bomb to give them a 4-2 lead, and Ella Young and the W.F. West infield did the rest on the defensive end.
“She just put the aluminum on that one,” W.F. West coach Kevin Zylstra said. “She smoked it into the wind, there was a bit of doubt, but it was well hit. That was a good lift for all of our players.”
Young retired 12 of the final 14 batters she faced in the pitcher's circle, with just one strikeout and one walk, the junior induced seven popouts in the infield, with four more groundouts in the final four innings.
“They see that changeup and they know it's coming, but it's hard to make solid contact with it,” Zylstra said. “I don’t know how many popups we had in the infield, slow ground balls, but she did her job. I loved to see her competitiveness.”
Young did all that after allowing seven hits in the first three innings, giving up two earned runs and letting the Warriors tie the game up in the top of the third after a Kaylei Clark single scored Macey Fluetsch.
After Brindle’s homer, Young allowed just two hits, one in the sixth and one in the seventh, and didn’t record a walk or a strikeout in the final four frames.
“This game had a big league pace,” Zylstra said. “It went back and forth for a lot of the way. Both pitchers did a really good job, with totally different ways of doing it. They both were pretty effective.”
Rochester’s Layna Demers countered with a decent day herself, giving up six runs, with five earned on nine hits with a pair of strikeouts and just four walks.
Brielle Etter went 2 for 2 at the plate for the Bearcats with a pair of runs scored, two walks drawn, and an RBI in the fourth. Staysha Fluetsch added an RBI knock in the first and a run scored in the third on a 2 for 3 day.
The Warriors were led by Roisin Stull’s multi-hit day, going 2 for 3 with a run scored, and Cheyenne Justice added a 2 for 3 line with an RBI-knock. Layna Demers hit a double, going 1 for 4, and Macey Fluetsch went 1 for 3 with a run scored and a walk drawn.
“They’re very good and well-coached,” Zylstra said of the Warriors. “They’re one of the best teams in our league, and we have to give them all the respect that they deserve. In the end they’re going to be in the thick of things.
“This league, if you get through it with just two or three losses, you’re doing pretty good.”
The Bearcats take on Aberdeen in Grays Harbor next on Friday, while the Warriors take on Tumwater on the road.
