By Jeremy McDonald
Jeremymcdonald73@gmail.com
SALEM, Ore.– The Chemeketa Community College Softball team came out and set a tone in their opening game of their doubleheader against Grays Harbor Saturday afternoon, taking the opening NWAC South Region Game 9-0 in five innings before getting into their second game shortly after.
Stayton-grad Jessica Rule threw a one-hitter in that opening game before handing things over to West Salem-grad Aliyah Wilsey in the pitching circle in Game 2.
Wilsey, coming off an ankle reconstruction ankle surgery and was just cleared back in October, has been getting back into the rhythm of things since then. She set the tone early in the circle early as the Storm led 3-1 after one and the lead held true through the next two innings.
“It feels great, I wouldn’t have done it without my team, they were supportive in every way. Today we showed that we can play together and as a family. I couldn’t be more proud of the girls, supporting each other and supporting me in the circle. Whether it’ll be in the field, or at the plate, we really played together and it showed,” said Wilsey, who struck out ten in the 8-4 victory.
Grays Harbor rallied, however, in the top half of the fourth inning. Driving in two runs in that frame, they tied the game up at 3-3, and the Storm knew it was time to respond and halt Grays Harbor’s momentum in some fashion.
They responded with a five-run bottom half of the fourth inning, featured by a three-run double by St. Paul-grad Abby Cavazos, to take an 8-3 lead into the fifth inning where they settled back into their early game form.
“It was pretty big, it was pretty big,” Cavazos said of the offensive inning. “What powered us through was energy and leaning onto each other, it was huge. We don’t see that very often.”
Consistency of that will be big for Chemeketa moving forward. Focusing will be key points Cavazos, a sophomore on the squad, as they look to continue that moving forward. Especially after the second game they played Saturday.
Neither team plated runs in the fifth or sixth innings and the Storm battled through some seventh inning adversity of baserunners, shutting the door on what would be an 8-4 victory after surrendering a late run before the final out of the game was recorded.
“We’ve had a tendency to dip down and let the other team back in, but we didn’t do that (today). We really leaned on each other and really came together to figure it out. I couldn’t have done it without them. The support on-and-off the field was unwavering…our support and everyone’s playing for each other. You can’t beat a team like that,” said Wilsey.
The Storm will be on the road Tuesday when they’ll play Clackamas up in Oregon City.for a twin-bill starting at noon.
Photos By Jeremy McDonald
