Prep Fall Sports: Girls swimming, slowpitch softball starting to heat up
Plus scores for slowpitch softball teams from the Blast Zone coverage area
Jordan Nailon / Blast Zone Media
PREP GIRLS SWIMMING
RAL’s McCoy, MM’s Rinker post PR’s in dual meet
The local swimming co-op from Mark Morris, R.A. Long and Kalama saw several personal records posted in a dual girls swimming meet late last week at Dick Mealy Memorial Pool.
With Union, Mountain View and Heritage in Longview for the early season competition, Mark Morris senior Kiki Rinker and R.A. Long freshman Addie McCoy both set PR’s. Rinker took more than 15 seconds off her previous best time in the 200-yard freestyle with a mark of 3:14.42. Meanwhile, McCoy shaved more than five seconds off her PR in the 100-yard freestyle with a time of 1:27.26.
Paige Wirtz of Mark Morris and Emma Anderson of Kalama also took the opportunity to post District-qualifying times. Anderson, a senior, qualified in the 200-yard individual medley (2:35.84) and the 100-yard breaststroke (1:23.24). Wirtz, a junior, notched an invite to the postseason in the 200-yard freestyle with a time of 1:16.44.
As for team results, Mark Morris was the only team to post two wins against the Vancouver area schools. The Monarchs topped Evergreen 131-7 and defeated Heritage 120-28, but dropped a close count to Mountain View by a score of 85-83 and couldn’t keep up with Union in a 95-74 team defeat.
The Lumberjills lost to Union 133-13, fell to Mountain View 118-15, and were topped by Heritage 37-25, but came out on top 27-12 against Evergreen.
The Chinooks got the best of Evergreen 24-10, but came up short against Union (125-20), Mountain View (120-15) and Heritage 43-20.
The R.A. Long/Mark Morris/Kalama co-op swimmers will host another multi-dual meet on Wednesday with Fort Vancouver, Hudson’s Bay and Columbia River visiting Dick Mealy Memorial Pool.
SLOWPITCH SOFTBALL
Kelso keeps on winning with sweep at Prairie
The Hilanders swept a slowpitch softball doubleheader at Prairie by scores of 14-2 and 15-1, Monday. Those wins came on the heels of big wins over Mountain View (16-7) and Mark Morris (22-9) last week . The win improved the Kelso slowpitch softball team’s record to 6-0 on the season.
In the circle, Karmynn Petrisor put the Falcons away for good on just 49 pitches in the opener.
“(Petrisor) also contributed to a stellar double-play when playing third base at the end of the second game, connecting with Milena Hooper at first base for the second out,” Kelso coach Lizzy Hoopfer said.
Hoopfer added that Madison Boyd put her first stat in the scorebook for the Hilanders on a fielder’s choice.
Last week Kelso had to shuffle the lineup to cover for a quartet of starters missing from action. Kennedie Storie helped the Hilanders pull away with a 3-RBI triple late in the contest.
“Keisha Hayes came in the game late and made excellent plays at shortstop,” Hoopfer said. “(She was also) putting some pressure on the bases on offense.”
The Hilanders have outscored their opponents 104-21 so far this season.
Kelso (6-0, 4-0 league) is scheduled to host R.A. Long on Thursday at 4 p.m.
Mark Morris, McGinley mop up at Mountain View
The Monarchs swept a doubleheader at Mountain View, Monday, behind a barrage of hot bats. And no stick of aluminum was closer to molten temperatures than that of Kiera McGinley who went a combined 6 for 8 with a home run and six RBIs in the slowpitch twin bill.
Mark Morris took the opener 23-0 and walked away with a 17-5 in the nightcap. The Monarchs tallied 30 hits in the first game alone.
Sydney Nelson led the MM offense in Game 1 by going 4 for 5. She notched a triple, a double and finished just a home run shy of the cycle with three RBIs. Cheyenne Wagner added four hits with an RBI in the win, while Karly Grothoff went 2 for 3 with 4 RBIs.
Neelie Robbins, Grace Woodbridge, Wensday Cavazos, Addison Baxter, Avery Carpenter, Liz Vickers and McGinley all tallied multiple hits and RBIs for the Monarchs, too.
As it turned out, McGinley was just getting heated up. She went 3 for 3 with six RBIs and her long ball in the rematch.
Robbins added three hits with a pair of doubles, Baxter and Nelson both posted three hits with three RBIs, and Dakota Thornton put up three hits with a pair of runs batted in.
“It was a great bounce back win after the hard loss to Kelso last week,” MM coach Chris Mejia said. “We are looking to keep that fight going this week.”
Mark Morris (5-2, 2-2 league) will be hunting a full-blown winning streak when it plays at Camas on Wednesday. The Monarchs will then host Prairie on Thursday at 4 p.m.
RAL leaves too many on base in 17-16 loss to River
The Lumberjills out-hit Columbia River during a 2A/3A Greater St. Helens League slowpitch contest at home, Monday, but wound up dropping the slugfest 17-16 anyhow.
Steveie Jones led the Jills at the plate, hitting for the cycle while going 5 for 5 with four RBIs.
Malia Byrnes contributed in the circle by allowing just one earned run, and in the box by going 4 for 4.
“The girls really are on fire offensively. Hitting the ball to all fields and running well once on base,” R.A. Long coach Josh Donaldson said. “We just kept shooting ourselves in the foot defensively. We definitely have some kinks we need to work out But a good practice Tuesday will give us that opportunity.”
R.A. Long (4-2, 1-2 league) will play at Evergreen on Wednesday, before heading to Kelso for a date on Lassie Beach at 4 p.m., Thursday.