By Jeremy McDonald
Jeremymcdonald73@gmail.com
TURNER, Ore.– The Marist softball program, all 11 players on their Varsity squad, came ready to play Tuesday evening to open the 4A State Postseason.
They, the Spartans, fell to Cascade twice at their place on April 12. And on this day, they came ready to play with some payback on their minds.
Both squads continued their hit parade’s from that day’s doubleheader, but the Spartans found an extra bounce or two with a gap for a hit or forcing an error to get baserunners on and across the board early.
The squad from Eugene led their Salem-area host 5-2 going into the fourth inning, but only to see Cascade claw back and even it up in the fourth inning thanks to a three-run fifth inning.
“We fought really hard today, and we just fell short. I think on another day, we might come out with a win but we were hitting the ball hard, it was just falling right to people and it’s how it goes sometimes,” said the Cougars Malia Scanlan.
Scanlan led Cascade with three hits and drove in three runs. One of those hits, and one of those runs, came way of a solo Home Run in the third inning that then drew teh Cougars back to within one of Marist at 3-2 going into the fourth inning.
The Spartans’ Arabella Martinez and her Marist defense held tough in the bottom half of the sixth inning after retaking the lead up 6-5, giving their offense an opportunity in the top half of the sixth inning to add to their lead. Something that they did, extending their lead to 9-5, knowing that Cascade’s top of the lineup was coming up one more time late in the game.
“For her, she had to trust the defense…she’s been staying late like everyday putting in that little bit of extra work and I think she has two straight complete games to finish up the league too. I couldn’t be more proud of her,” said Marist Head Coach Jason Martin of his sophomore pitcher.
With a limited bench and a young squad, the Spartans have been getting those valuable reps in, and it’s beginning to show up now as they head to play Pendleton in the 4A State Quarterfinals out in Pendleton on Friday.
“We’re going to have to do the same thing. We’re going to have to play clean D, timely hitting, and no free bases. That’s the formula for us, period,” Martin said. “We’re never going to overpower anyone. Pitching wise or hitting… We never swing at bad pitches. Timely hitting is huge for us. Hitting the ball has been great all year, but it’s our age that shows sometimes defensively and our pitching depth. For these 11 girls, I’ve been super impressed and proud of them.”
Cascade managed to turn the lineup over with their power hitters, but the Marist defense held the Cougars to two runs in the sixth inning with Grace Wright scoring on a Wild Pitch and Scanlan driving in another run off a single.
For Cascade, it was the closest they’ll get as both squads turned quick innings in the seventh inning to close out the 9-7 victory in favor of Marist on this day.
“This season, we really fought through, even with some calls that didn’t go our way, and we had to figure out how to come back and get that out. And we did that today. We did get some of those. Maybe we had a bad throw, and we got the girl out at two, and mentality, I think it’s been like transitioning. Hopefully, next year, they can keep improving, and hopefully, they can get it next year,” said Scanlan.
Photos By Jeremy McDonald
