Othello-Richland match rained out, Huskies lead 4-3

OTHELLO — The Othello Huskies home softball game Thursday afternoon against the Richland Bombers ended early due to poor field conditions from rain. The game ended with the Huskies leading 4-3 at the top of the fourth inning.

The Huskies opened with three runs in the bottom of the first inning, but Richland came back with three runs in the top of the second inning. Othello pulled ahead with another run in the bottom of the third inning before the game was ended due to the rain.

Othello Head Coach Alyssa Martinez explained the early end of the game.

“The conditions aren’t terrible, but we're trying to prevent injury … It's not safe for running, it's not safe for fielding,” she said. “I've got 11 girls on varsity, so I'm okay with preventing injuries.”

Martinez elaborated on some highlights during the game.

“I was telling the girls, this is one of our better games,” she said. “We started off, our leadoff hitter started off and she whacked the ball, got on base, the next person on base, and then it just kept going like it was a trickle effect and it just happened right off the bat and we scored three runs in the first inning.”

In the bottom of the first inning, Senior Persayis "PK" Garza tripled, scoring two runs, and Junior Lovie Franco doubled, scoring one run.

“It was nice to start off hot like that because we're not usually starting off hot like that,” she said, “and so in the first inning they kind of established that and I think they rolled off of that.”

Naraiah Guzman singled in the bottom of the third inning, scoring one run, and pitcher Amarie Guzman allowed five hits and a three-run homerun but struck out five batters and walked another.

“Our pitcher, Amarie Guzman, she's our number one pitcher right now, and that wasn't her best pitching today, and I think she knows that, but she was still getting the job done, putting it in play … I think that the rain affected her the most, but she was still trying to push through it and make it work, so she's putting the ball in play. She gave up that three-run home run but she hit her spot and that girl just went and got that high inside pitch, so it is what it is.”

Martinez talked about what she took away from the game.

“I think I'm taking away a lot of positives. We were stealing a lot,” she said. “There wasn’t a whole lot of defense because our pitcher did her job … I think I'm leaving on a positive of like we came out and we came to play today and the girls were ready for it, and that's what we were preparing for all week.”

Information on whether the game will be rescheduled was not available by press time.

Gabriel Davis may be reached at gdavis@columbiabasinherald.com.

Box Score

Othello softball vs. Richland

OTHL: 3-0-1 4
RCHL: 0-3-0 3

    An Othello Huskies softball batter hits the ball during Thursday’s match against Richland, which was rained out.