Battle at Chiawana - By Jack Forbes
In an action-packed double header matchup, the Richland Bombers traveled to Pasco to take on the Chiawana Riverhawks. The Bombers entered the game with a 14-0 record and one of the top teams in the state, although this was not a game to look past as the Riverhawks had put together a good season as well. This deep into the season, Richland's lineup and pitching is stacked head to toe. With Emily Mohr with a 0.82 ERA and a .123 opponent batting average, this would be a tough challenge for Chiawana. On top of that, two girls for the Bombers are batting over .700, with Etzel at an astonishing .792 and Spaeth right behind her at .762. To add to that, Boyce is batting near .600 at .593 with four homers on the year. I spoke to coach Courtney Ruane pregame to see what they needed to do going into the game and what their game plan was. "Before the games, we knew that Chiawana was going to be a good team, and they were extremely aggressive on the basepaths. We did our best to prepare our defense for a lot of baserunners and small balls.
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| Photo: Metcalf Media (@metcalfmedia_ ) |
When it came to offense, we worked on laying off of high pitches, knowing that Chiawana has a couple of pitchers who live up in the zone. We love that our batters are aggressive and want to hit rather than walk, but we wanted to ensure they were swinging at pitches they can drive for a base hit rather than pop up". The scoring started early, with the Bombers putting up a one spot in the top half of the inning, but the Riverhawks answered right back, and a three-run inning was capped off by a two-run shot. An active top half of the second inning started off with a Haylee Spaeth RBI single, led by a Payton Chacon sacrifice fly and followed by a Brooklynn Boyce two RBI triple, which she scored on an error. Emily Mohr topped the six-run inning off with an RBI single. In the 3rd, Julia Saueressig tallied the only run for Richland with an RBI single, which Chiawana answered right back in the bottom half of the inning with an RBI single of their own.
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| Photo: Metcalf Media (@metcalfmedia_ ) |
The scoring started back up in the 5th, where the Riverhawks put up two on an RBI single to make the score 8-6 after five. Both teams went scoreless in the 6th, and the 7th would be a nail-biter. The Bombers would go scoreless in the top of the 7th, and the next three outs would leave people on the edge of their seats, Richland trying to protect their perfect record. Chiawana made it close, putting up one in the final half inning and making it 8-7, but ultimately fell short. Adelyn Etzel would come in to seal the deal, and the Bombers would take game one. Stat leaders for the day, Emily Mohr, went four innings on the mound with four earned runs and four strikeouts. Sophia Sams came in relief for two innings; she allowed two earned runs and added five strikeouts. Adelyn Etzel came in and closed the game, surrendering no runs and striking out one. For the Riverhawks, Emma Wirt pitched 1.1 innings and allowed seven earned runs before she was relieved by Gabriella Garza, who would finish the game going 5.2 innings, only allowing one run and adding one strikeout. At the plate for the Bombers, Haylee Spaeth led the way, going 4-4. Chacon, Etzel, Sams, and Saueressig all tallied two hits themselves. For Chiawana, Jessica Melendez, Samantha Melendez, and Chase Wirt each had two hits, with Amelia Smith adding three.
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| Photo: Metcalf Media (@metcalfmedia_ ) |
After game one, I got to speak to Coach Ruane again and asked her if their plan worked out for the team and what they needed to improve on going into game two. "I would say that we did well in the first game; we had 16 hits, so I would say that our strategy of laying off the high pitches was successful. The girls were driving the ball and finding gaps in the field", she told me. "I think what we need to work on heading into the second game is stringing our hits together. We did score enough runs to win, but we also left a lot of runners on base. More timely hits is what we need to better ourselves going into the next game."
Game two started shortly after, with Emily Mohr on the mound again for the Bombers and Leah North pitching for the Riverhawks. In the first two innings, both teams would go quiet, with both pitchers retiring the lineup in order besides a walk by Mohr at the bottom of the first. Sophia Sams would get the Bombers rolling in the top of the second with a leadoff triple and would score on the next pitch by an Emily Mohr sacrifice fly. Chiawana would go scoreless again at the bottom of the second despite back-to-back singles by Gabriella Garza and Leah North. Payton Chacon led the 3rd off with a double, but the Bombers could not bring her around despite her advancing to third on a dropped third strike to the next batter.
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| Photo: Metcalf Media (@metcalfmedia_ ) |
In the 4th, back-to-back singles by Spaeth and Brannon would amount to nothing after a pop-out and a lineout for the next two batters. The Riverhawks would take their first lead of the game in the bottom of the 4th after leadoff batter Adriana Rodriguez doubled to center. The next batter, Gabriella Garza, grounded into a fielder's choice where everyone would end up safe. A passed ball would score their first run of the game, and a single to-center by Amidie Ochoa would put the Riverhawks in the top 2-1. Payton Chacon started the Bombers off again in the 5th, giving them a baserunner to work with on a bunt single. Brooklyn Boyce singled on the next play, and an Adelyn Etzel sacrifice fly knotted the game up at two once again. Richland would take the lead again in the 6th, a bunt single by Lynch bringing home Brannon.
The game was looking to be a nail-biter, just like the last one, and it sure was. In the bottom half of the 6th, the Riverhawks started to pull away. After an error to the leadoff batter and a single to the next, the Richland girls were in a hole with their perfect season in jeopardy. After an intentional walk to the dangerous Jessica Melendez to load the bases, Alyssa Melendez would step up in a huge spot. After falling 0-1, the next pitch she saw, she tripled to center, scoring three and giving Chiawana a 5-3 lead. A sac fly would make it 6-3 before the inning ended, and a big inning was needed for Richland. The Riverhawks could see the light at the end of the tunnel, but they just needed three more outs to end the perfect season and take down the powerhouse Bombers.
The inning started with Brooklynn Boyce reaching on an error, and then an Adelyn Etzel double would bring her home, making it 6-4. Sophia Sams would advance the runner on a ground out, and La Plante would hit a hard ground ball, reaching on another error and scoring the pinch-running Cobb from third. Spaeth would ground out the next at-bat, moving the game-tying run to second base. Brannon would step up to the plate and pop out to the first baseman on the first pitch she saw, ending the game. It was a hard-fought battle by both teams, but in the end, the Riverhawks edged out the Bombers. I was able to speak to superfan Talon Jones postgame to see what he saw in this Bomber team. "I've been around softball a lot growing up; my sister played, so I have watched a ton of different teams, and I think this team is special. They really have a loaded lineup with some of the craziest batting averages I have ever seen and some lights-out pitching to go with it. I really don't think that this Bomber team needs to sweat this loss at all. Rather, take it as a learning moment and build on it. Besides, it really takes the pressure off having a meaningless loss going into the state rather than getting the first loss while at the state.
Shoutout to Chiawana. They looked really good as well." Stat leaders for the game, Mohr, Sams, and Etzel pitched again for the Bombers, allowing six runs, three of which were earned, and adding four total strikeouts. At the plate, Chacon, Boyce, Sams, Spaeth, Brannon, and Lynch all each tallied two hits, with Etzel, Mohr, Lynch, and La Plante driving in the runs. For the Riverhawks, Leah North threw six innings, only allowing two earned runs, and Alyssa Melendez would close the game in the last inning.
