High School Softball: Woodland gets last laugh at R.A. Long in 2A GSHL slugfest
PHOTO GALLERY — Beavers ride big bats to 16-11 league win over Lumberjills
Skyler Smith for BlastZoneMedia.com / blastzonenews@gmail.com
2A Prep Softball / Report
THE LUMBERJILL YARD — Following a fast start at the plate, the Woodland softball team didn’t let up at the plate, Friday, in a 2A Greater St. Helens League battle at R.A. Long. The Beavers utilized a relentless offensive approach to outlast the Jills 16-11 win at The Lumberjill Yard.
So what exactly was working for Woodland at the plate? And what were the Beavers seeing in the box?
“Definitely a lot of high and inside pitches, and those are my perfect pitch,” Woodland’s Madison Walker said. “I was just driving them every time.”
Walker, who went 4-for-5 with two RBI and three runs scored to help lead the Beavers, said the difference came down to approach rather than trying to do too much at the plate.
“When we went up there just trying to hit it down instead of swinging for a home run, we ended up driving in a lot of runs,” she said.
Woodland head coach Tom Christensen said that aggressiveness has been a point of emphasis for his team this spring.
“Aggressiveness and being ready at the plate,” Christensen said. “That’s something we’ve talked about—having a ‘yes, yes, yes’ approach and being ready every pitch.”
Coming off an 11-run win in their previous outing, the hometown Lumberjills were able to stay in the ballgame all the way down to the wire. After being run-ruled in their previous meeting, R.A. Long showed clear improvement this time around, matching Woodland’s offense and refusing to let the game get out of hand early.
“We made some mistakes, but we didn’t let them get us down,” R.A. Long head coach Jim Van Fleet said. “It didn’t create momentum for them like it has before, and that made a difference.”
The victory for Woodland left the Beavers with a one-game lead over R.A. Long in the league standings as the regular season grows short.
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