Big Bend softball comes up big

SELAH - The growing process continues for the Big Bend Lady Vikings softball team.

At the midseason's Northwest Athletic Association of Community Colleges (NWAACC) crossover turnover in Selah, the Lady Vikings played to a 3-1 record and moved their overall season record above .500 at 15-13.

Already the Lady Vikings have won seven more games than all of last season with 14 games still left to play.

"Hopefully we can carry the positives from this weekend into next weekend as we start the home stretch of league play," Big Bend head coach Jeremy Iverson said. "We had fun this weekend, and I was proud of how the kids performed."

On Saturday, Big Bend kicked off their tournament with a 4-2 win over Chemeketa CC, 

Erika Hanson earned the win for Big Bend, going the distance as she scattered 10 hits.

Brin Neff led the offense with a homerun, triple, and a double, as a two-run fifth inning clinched the win for Big Bend.

The Lady Vikings wrapped up their first day of play with a 9-5 win over Clark Community College.

Big Bend knocked out 13 hits and used three-run innings in their first two at bats.

Kalli Heller had four hits including a homer and a triple. Hanson knocked out three hits with two doubles, and Brooke Vincent earned the win as the starting pitcher.

On day two,  the Lady Vikings' momentum from their first two wins carried over en masse as they steamrolled Grays Harbor, 20-1 in five innings.

A 15-run fourth inning did the damage for Big Bend.

Vincent hit a grand slam while Jessica Wald,  Brittney Miller, and Neff also homered.

Neff and Miller each had three hits while Moses Lake HS graduate Bailey Ritchie recorded her second straight two-base hit game.

Hanson earned her second win on the weekend with a complete game three-hitter.

In their tournament finale, the Lady Vikings' good run of fortune came to an end as Southwest Oregon Community College recorded 13-3 win in five innings.

Hanson took the loss as Big Bend was held to only three hits, all singles by Neff.