Eagle Softball Starts Fast in Conference

The Eagle softball team rose to the top in a tightly packed Golden Valley Conference when they swept a doubleheader at Shasta in Redding last week.

At 4-2 in early GVC play, the Eagles are tied for first place with Mendocino and scheduled to play two at Redwoods this Friday. All the other teams in the GVC are within two games of the lead. Yuba and Redwoods are both 4-4, Lassen and Butte 3-3, Feather River 4-6, Shasta 2-4.

Lassen, at 11-11, is the only GVC team with an overall record that isn't below .500.

The Eagles opened conference with doubleheader splits against Redwoods and Mendocino in their first home games of the season March 20 and 21. Then they generated 22 hits and benefited from numerous Shasta errors in a 15-6, 12-1 sweep last Thursday before winning a pair of non-conference games Tuesday at Coalinga, 12-3 and 3-0.

Head coach Jon Cox said at the start of the season that he hoped a difficult pre-conference schedule would strengthen the Eagles for the GVC season. So far, so good. They've won 4 in a row and 6 of their last 8 overall after winning just 2 of their first 15 games.

While the Eagles are middle of the pack among other GVC teams for many offensive statistics overall, they rank first so far in GVC games for batting average (.337), on-base percentage (.418), slugging percentage (.533), runs scored (53), runs batted in (44), extra base hits (23), doubles (15), and triples (6).

Looking at stats for the overall season, the Eagles rank second among GVC teams with 46 extra base hits and third with a .381 team slugging percentage. And their hitters have struck out just 76 times in 23 games, which is second best among conference foes.

The pitching has been good too of late. Abigael Marines is 3-0 in conference games with a 2.33 earned run average in 5 appearances. Megan Allen pitched a six-hit shutout in a 3-0 win in the second game against Coalinga Tuesday.

Big innings were a big part of the Eagles' two wins at Shasta last week. They trailed 6-2 in game one before scoring 9 runs in the third inning and 4 in the fifth, eventually winning 15-6 with 10 hits and no errors.

The top of the batting order was especially effective as 2-3-4 hitters Shyla Mead, Nevaeh Harry and Maddalyn Fullenwider combined for 6 hits, 9 runs batted in, and 7 runs scored; and leadoff hitter Moriah Hoshowski went 1 for 2 with an RBI double in the 5th, walked twice and scored 3 times.

Harry was 2 for 2 with 4 RBIs, including a 3-run fifth-inning home run.

Mead went 2 for 3 and scored 4 times. She had a three-run triple in the 3rd, then scored on an error.

Fullenwider was 2 for 4 with a double, 2 RBIs, and a run.

Samantha Ray had a 2-run double in the 3rd, Shelby Flournoy singled to drive in a run in the 3rd, and winning pitcher Kaitlin Estes singled and scored twice.

Estes allowed three loud hits in the first two innings, including two home runs, then pitched a pair of scoreless frames before Marines closed it out with a hitless inning in relief.

Marines pitched a seven-inning complete game in game two, allowing 1 unearned run on 6 hits with 4 walks and 2 strikeouts. The Eagles committed 5 errors around her, and that was 2 fewer than Shasta's 7 errors. The Eagle offense had 12 hits, but 8 of their 12 runs were unearned.

Eight Eagles scored runs in the game, and seven had RBIs. Fullenwider was 2 for 2, including a 2-run home run that started a 5-run rally in the 7th. She also walked, singled, and scored 3 times.

Ray was 2 for 4 including a 2-run double in the 7th. She scored twice and drove in 4.

Mead was 2 for 4 with a double and RBI, Grace Hubbard singled and drove in a run, Kylie Kendall singled and drove in 2, Abigail Wolf doubled to drive in the Eagles' final run, Flournoy doubled and scored twice, Harry doubled and scored, Hoshowski scored and drove in one, and Kanalei Brasch was 1 for 1 and scored.

The Eagles came from behind with 2 runs in the bottom of the sixth to win their GVC opener over Redwoods 6-5. Emma Murphy, who had 3 hits in the game, singled to drive in Ray, then scored what proved to be the winning run on a triple by Harry. Marines pitched all 7 innings for the win.

A 4-run 5th inning the next day lifted the Eagles to an 8-6 win in the opener against Mendocino. Catcher Abigail Wolf had 2 doubles and a single and drove in 2. Flournoy was 2 for 2 with a double and scored twice, Murphy had a triple, and Fullenwider and Grace Hubbard had doubles. Marines again pitched all 7 innings, allowing just 3 earned runs while striking out 6. She also pitched two shutout innings in relief in game two, an 8-7 loss.

Overall this season, Harry leads the Eagles regulars on offense with a .338 batting average and 22 hits, while Fullenwider is first in on-base percentage (.443) and slugging percentage (.517) and has a .328 batting average.

Harry, Hoshowski, Mead, and Ray are tied for the team lead in RBIs (11), and Fullenwider has 10.

Murphy, who has a .310 batting average and .359 on-base percentage, is tied with Mead for the team lead in runs scored (16), and Harry has scored 15 times.

Mead leads the team with 9 bases on balls and is second with a .380 on-base percentage.

Friday's games at Redwoods are the first of eight GVC road games in a row for the Eagles. They're scheduled to play at Mendocino Saturday, at Butte next Friday, and at Lassen next Saturday. They return home to face Shasta Wednesday, April 17, then host Feather River Saturday, April 20.