ADNA — Between Pe Ell/Willapa Valley’s Eliza Barnum’s rise ball and poor approaches at the dish, nothing was working for the Adna High School softball team.
Even a rally in the bottom of the fifth went from promising to dire, one strike away from squandering the best chance to take the lead for the first time on Friday night.
“In that moment, I’m trying to get on base,” junior first baseman Khloe Hunt said. “I wanted to make more opportunities not only for myself, but for my teammates.”
One swing from Hunt changed everything.
On a 2-2 pitch, the right-hander launched a go-ahead three-run home run to spark an eight-run fifth that gave the Pirates a statement 9-3 triumph over the Titans at home to cap a 2-0 day. They also clipped Warden 10-4 in the afternoon.
Hunt was only trying to do her job with Hadleigh Gerard and Tieander Olson in scoring position. She was down in the count, worked two straight balls and turned on a rise ball the opposite way that just cleared the fence.
“For some odd reason, I’m very comfortable with a 2-2 count because I got to protect my plate,” Hunt said. “I just started running and I’m going to hope that I can get somewhere with this.”
She ended up at home plate. So did a handful of her teammates afterwards.
Two runs scored on errors while Avery LaFontaine and Jaxsyn Lowrey recorded RBI singles. All eight runs came with two outs. Prior to the offensive explosion, Adna (6-1) was held to one run on three hits.
“We were chasing a little bit, (Barnum is) firm, we don’t see that all the time and we wanted to get back to hitting our pitch,” Pirates head coach Bruce Pocklington said. “We’re up 4-2 and I’m thinking ‘God, we need another one’ and then blink, we kept going.”
Hunt has been responsible for at least a hit in the majority of the seven games so far. She’s been primarily in the fifth spot, behind power hitters Olson and Alyssa Carroll and in front of speedsters such as Lena McCloskey and Presley Strodemier.
In the blink of an eye, Adna’s lineup went from down in the dumps to finishing with at least eight runs in five of its six victories. Olson and Charlie Myers went 3-for-4 while Gerard drew three walks and scored three times.
“I really love that no matter where we are in the lineup, we can make contact,” Hunt said. “We put in a lot of work and effort. We have a big goal in mind.”
PWV head coach Eric Hopfer didn’t droop after the final out despite four total errors and failing to add to a 2-0 lead. Still, it took one big inning for the game to go from a potential thriller to one-sided.
“I felt we played very well and after the first few runs, panic mode set in,” Hopfer said. “Adna played a great game and hats off to them. Outside of that one inning, I don’t have any qualms.”
Almost 11 months after Adna got to Barnum constantly in the Class 2B state semifinals, the PWV righty found a way to dance out of jams in the first four complete innings, leaving a runner stranded in scoring position.
Four of the nine runs were earned and she also had four walks, but punched out eight.
“I think we’ll be alright,” Hopfer said.
Tylar Keeton roped an RBI double in the first and then scored on a wild pitch in the third. From that point on, the Titans (8-3) only earned four hits off Myers, including a solo homer from Lauren Matlock in the seventh.
Myers, the lefty who’s a Wagner commit, went the distance and worked around five walks and seven hits to notch seven strikeouts.
“I’ve seen a lot of growth in her,” Hunt said. “I know our defense can back her up. Do what you do and we got your back.”
Both programs upended Warden, the 2024 state runner-up and 2025 participant.
Adna used a four-run bottom of the third to break a 4-4 tie. Olson led off the frame with a solo home run and as a precursor to six hours later, the remainder of the runs came with two outs. Hunt and Kimber Huber had run-scoring singles on the ends of a Strodemier RBI triple.
Olson finished off her three-hit day with an RBI triple in the sixth to add insurance. Strodemier and Huber each had two hits in the Nos. 8 and 9 spots and Gerard added two hits, three runs scored and two stolen bases.
“The mental part of the game, we’re chasing some pitches both games, trying to hit that home run (or) trying to get a base hit,” Pocklington said. “We just need a quality at-bat. So we’re learning, which is what we need to be doing.”
The Titans cruised past Warden 10-0 in five innings in the second game of the tripleheader.
PWV jumped all over the Cougars with five runs in the first fueled by a pair of two-run home runs by Keeton and Rilyn Channel. Matlock, Jillian Hodel and CJ Sipp were responsible for RBI hits in a three-run fourth.
Matlock, Hodel each had three hits and crossed home twice, leading a lineup that registered seven extra base hits. Barnum and Hodel combined for nine strikeouts in the circle and only allowed one hit.
“It was good to see them square up like that,” Hopfer said. “The bottom of the lineup picked up the pace.”
The two teams will meet again next Saturday in Pe Ell. Before that matchup, PWV will take on Toledo on Friday while Adna opens C2BL play on Monday versus Mossyrock. Both Hopfer and Pocklington feel good about where their respective groups are at as May approaches.
“I think we’re still right in there; I don’t foresee us going anywhere but getting better,” Hopfer said. “The more we play, the better it will be.”
“We got some work to do, but we’re moving,” Pocklington stated.
