Royal start fastpitch season off perfect
Sophomore McDarra vonStein reaches home ahead of a throw against Newport, but the umpire said she popped up too early from her slide and didn't touch the plate.
ROYAL CITY - The Royal High softball team kicked off the new season with a torrent of runs and two victories over Newport last Thursday on the Royal diamond.
On Saturday, things went well again, with the Knights downing Goldendale twice, 17-4 and 13-3, each game ending after five innings. The 4-0 start is the best the Knights have seen in recent years.
The opener against Newport was a test. The Knights fell back early and trailed 11-8 after five innings.
The Knights won with a two-inning rally. The scored two runs in the bottom of the fifth inning and two more in the bottom of the sixth. The fifth inning featured a smash line drive by sophomore McDarra vonStein that went through the second baseman's glove.
Junior Ashley Valle was a terror at the plate. She collected four hits, including a 3-run triple, in four at-bats. VonStein batted 3-4.
The game featured a third inning defensive gem by the Knights. With the bases loaded, senior Hannah Larson picked up a dribbler to first and fired home for the first out. Junior catcher Ali Rodriguez then got the runner from first with a throw to vonStein at second base.
"Lots of things to work on, but there are some very bright spots," coach Robin Valdez said.
Samantha Noftle started the first game in the circle and recorded two strikeouts but gave up six walks. She was relieved by freshman Samantha Dunn, who had five strikeouts and allowed five walks in four innings.
The second game was all Knights. It was called after three and a half innings because of darkness with Royal leading, 12-1.
Part of the problem was a new, fairly inexperienced Newport pitcher who struggled to find the plate. In the first inning alone she walked four batters and hit another.
Instead of standing around waiting to get walked, the Knights started swinging at some of the poor pitches. They had nine hits and scored 12 runs in the next two innings.
Valle, with a batting average of 1.000 for the day, went 3-3 and legged out two inside-the-park home runs. Sophomore Bianca Castellon had one round-tripper inside the park.
Dunn started the second game and cleaned up her pitching. She did not issue a walk, and she recorded five strikeouts.
Rodriguez caught the first game, and sophomore Bianca Castellon caught the second.
The first Goldendale game featured a six-strikeout no-hitter by Dunn. Goldendale's scores came from five Dunn walks and three errors. Ali Rodriguez was the catcher.
The offense included the first over-the-fence home run of the year by Ashley Valle. Sophomores Savanna Buster and Bianca Castellon added homers of their own over the fence.
Dunn had a good outing in the second game. She recorded three strikeouts and gave up no walks. Of the five hits she allowed, one was a two-run homer. Castellon was the catcher.
"That's one of the downfalls of using the same pitcher for two games in a row. The other team eventually starts to get the hang of it," Valdez said.
"Defensively, we played a clean game" Valdez added. "Twelve of the 15 total outs were made at first base. On offense, we were strong again. We had three doubles (vonStein, Valle 2) and two triples (Castellon, Harris), one of which ended the game for us."
Valdez was especially pleased with her girls' plate discipline. They waited for the right pitches and capitalized when they appeared.
"We only had only eight strikeouts compared to the 17 we saw on Thursday against Newport. I couldn't ask for much better improvement."
Become a Subscriber!
You have read all of your free articles this month. Select a plan below to start your subscription today.
Already a subscriber? Login
