By Jeremy McDonald
Jeremymcdonald73@gmail.com
SALEM, Ore.– Sunday’s Doubleheader against Lower Columbia was a good test, a good measuring stick, for the Chemeketa Softball team.
The Red Devils are the defending NWAC Champions and entered the game 9-2 on the year and took Game 1 of the doubleheader 10-0 in five innings. Lower Columbia scored five runs in the second inning to separate themselves from the Storm.
But in Game 2, Chemeketa came out with a little more energy. The Storm entered the NWAC South Region Doubleheader 5-9 on the year and 2-0 in league play and led the defending NWAC Champions 3-2 after the first inning. Layni Noonkester hit a three-run home run in that opening inning that helped Chemeketa get the narrow margin.
Over the second and third innings however, the Red Devils scored seven unanswered runs to take a 9-3 lead going into the fourth inning. Chemeketa hung their first zero run inning defensively in the fourth inning and threatened to cut the deficit down in the bottom half of the inning.
With two outs on the board, Grace Walls (Dallas) and Hadlee Nicholson (South Albany) hit back-to-back singles, but the rally stopped there before they could put more additional pressure on Lower Columbia. And the Red Devils took advantage of the opportunity by plating two more runs in the top half of the fifth off a Jaime Hasse home run to add some more cushion to their lead.
Chemeketa kept battling however, in the bottom half of the fifth inning, Zoe Moore (Blanchet) hit a one-out, one-run home run to give the Storm some momentum as they looked to extend the game beyond the fifth facing the eight-run mercy rule. The Red Devils had the answer to keep Chemeketa on their heels pitching wise as they turned the final two outs to help seal the 12-4 victory to close out the NWAC South Region Doubleheader.
“I’m really happy that we competed in that second game. We came out in that second game with completely new energy and I’m really proud of my team with how we competed, even though we lost. I thought it was a good fight,” said Addi Bennett. “Our first game, we didn’t have that much energy and that affected us on the field. So in our second game, our energy was up and we got a hold of the ball.”
Bennett, a Salem Academy-grad, struck out four in five innings. Laney DeLoe (Willamina) struck out three in two innings and Shayla Qualls (Sprague) struck out two in an inning-and-a-third. Noonkester drove in three runs on five hits. Moore and Walls each had two hits in the doubleheader.
Sitting with five wins on the year with eight freshmen, every little victory like home runs, strikeouts, plays in the field are huge. It’s just adding them all up for the final result is what they’re still working on as they’ll look to rebound up at Centralia and Grays Harbor on Friday and Saturday.
“Every little win that we get is huge for us. Building that team chemistry, every little thing that we could get. Every single strikeout, every home run that we have, every base hit. It comes down to those little plays, so when those add up, we’re a great team,” said Bennett.
Photos By Jeremy McDonald
