A strong home field start to a long week was tempered by two losses which left the Hood River Valley softball team on the outside looking in on the Northwest Oregon Conference playoff race.
The Eagles (6-13 overall, 5-6 NWOC) started the week with a 13-2 win over Hillsboro on May 1, followed by a 21-1 win a day later over Parkrose, in which Coach Madelynn Vallejo got playing time for everyone on her roster.
“We had Grace (Rowan) start out that game and then Kenadie (Lucas) took over. Grace is actually injured, so with four games this week, Kennedy pitched most of the four games,” Vallejo said. “We had all our seniors in to play for the second-to-last home game (vs. Parkrose).”
The lopsided score came in part from the numerous walks and hit batters courtesy of the Parkrose pitchers. The Eagles also had their games against Hillsboro and Parkrose shortened by the 10-run Mercy Rule for the second time this season.
On Wednesday, the Eagles played their third game in as many days, at Milwaukie, and it caught up to the team.
“The girls were tired, and same with game four (vs. La Salle) that week,” Vallejo said. “They were so tired. Milwaukie has a decent pitcher, she doesn’t throw very strong, and for whatever reason that week we just didn’t hit very well.
“Our energy was very low; we didn’t come out and stomp them the way that we should have. We couldn’t string together hits.”
Milwaukie won the game, 6-5, in the bottom of the eighth inning by squeezing across the winning run. Hood River’s Ademari Lazaro-Rodriguez reached base in the top of the eighth for HRV, but the Eagles couldn’t get her home. Rowan and Lucas alternated on the mound for HRV. The Eagles had defeated Milwaukie, 13-3, on April 12 at home.
After a day off, HRV managed just two hits against the La Salle Falcons and lost, 11-0. Hood River had won the first meeting against La Salle in a come-from-behind 6-5 victory on April 14 at home. But Sarah Mason, “who has a pretty good bat,” was out of the lineup for the Eagles, Vallejo said. Also, Rowan was unable to pitch because of an injury.
“What we’re seeing right now is kind of two different teams for us coming out,” Vallejo said. “We have one team that comes out and jumps early and then we have another team that, quite honestly, we’re not even sure wants to be there. And playing three or four games in a week is really hard on that emotional piece.”
Hood River has five games remaining in the regular season and four of them are on the road, starting with a May 9 contest at Centennial.
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