After a rainout forced a cancelation before its very first game of the season, the Centralia softball team came back and run-ruled 2B Toutle Lake at Recreation Park in Chehalis Thursday, 12-1, in five innings.
Led by Peyton Smith’s steady performance in the circle, and a powerful first inning at the plate, the Tigers ran away from the Ducks in their season opener.
“Everybody was dialed in,” Tigers coach David Orr said. “There’s only a couple of girls who are struggling at the plate for us. We had freshman, first game jitters. We’re excited to get this one under the belt and keep moving on.”
Smith allowed a single run in the first inning, before shutting the Ducks down the rest of the way in a complete five inning performance, striking out three.
“(Smith’s) put a lot of work in the offseason,” Orr said. “It was a long year last year, but she’s calmed and more composed and settled in, and it definitely shows when she’s out there. Once we got that first inning out of the way, we settled down.”
The bats for the Tigers, meanwhile, picked up dramatically in the bottom of the first, scoring eight runs, highlighted by Makayla Chavez’s two-run blast to left field in her first at-bat of the season.
Jadyn Hawley also nabbed three hits and two runs batted in, and most importantly, the Tigers got a game under their belts, and a win.
They’ll hope for more acceptable weather Friday when they head to Tenino at 4 p.m.
