Hood River Valley softball season ends with IMC semifinal loss; The Dalles ousted in quarterfinals

The Lady Eagles, guided by second-year Coach Ryan Munn, had a lot of confidence after winning six out of seven games and they definitely felt like they had a good chance for an upset win over Ridgeview. Unfortunately, things didn’t work out that way, as the Ravens won 15-0 last Wednesday to end the Eagles season. Ridgeview then capped the season by winning the IMC title with an 8-4 win over the Pendleton Buckaroos (9-0 IMC, 15-2) Saturday at Pendleton High School.

“Going into Wednesday’s game we felt great, and the girls were ready to go and it seemed like everything was going good for us,” said Munn. “We just made too many mistakes though with errors and some other little things that hurt us. Whenever you play a good team like Ridgeview and you make mistakes, it will always cost you.”

The contest marked the final game of the Hood River Valley High School career for seniors Morgan Baker, Molly Routson and I’sis Solorzano.

“It was a sad way for our seniors to conclude their career,” said Munn. “Those three girls are great, and they’ve played a lot of softball together for a long time, so it was a tough day for them. We’ll miss them next season.”

Many members of the Eagles squad will continue playing softball throughout the summer on the Gorge Thunder traveling team coached by Munn.

Riverhawks

The Dalles High Riverhawks softball team won two of their last four Intermountain Conference games while providing themselves with some all-important momentum for the IMC District playoffs. One of those wins was a 13-6 victory at home May 7 over Crook County (4-6 IMC, 7-10 overall). With that in mind, the No. 4 seeded Riverhawks (4-6 IMC, 6-10 overall) had some confidence about their chance to win in a playoff game rematch May 17 versus a slumping Crook County squad on a five-game losing streak.

The No. 5 seeded Cowgirls had something else in mind — revenge. That’s exactly what they got in winning 13-5 in an IMC quarterfinal contest at 16th Street Ballpark, which ended the season for Coach Katherine Kramer’s Lady Riverhawks.

“It was a big shock to everybody because it was an upset, since we were the higher-ranked team,” said Kramer. “It was a tough game. Crook County came out ready to hit. Although we have a total of seven sophomores and freshmen that were starters for us, I think we had a great season. We only had two senior starters (Madison Trout, Courtney Hert), so we’re a pretty young team.”

Trailing 3-0 in the top of the first, the Riverhawks rallied and trimmed the margin to 3-2 in the bottom half of the frame. After a scoreless third, it remained a one-run game going into the fourth. The Cowgirls regained the momentum though, while scoring three runs to build a 6-2 advantage.

The Dalles responded to the challenge and scored two runs in the fifth to stay within reach for a possible come-from-behind win, down just 6-4 after five innings.

“Each inning we tried to respond, but then things kind of went away for us towards the end of the game,” said Kramer.

Crook County outhit The Dalles, 15-7, and took control of the contest by scoring seven runs in the sixth and seventh innings to build a 13-4 lead. The Hawks scored one run in the bottom of the seventh for the final margin. Crook County moved on to the May 19 semifinals, losing 4-1 to Pendleton.

Kramer recapped the Riverhawk season by focusing on the positive.

“Courtney Hert had a really good season while finishing with a .375 batting average,” said Kramer. “Maddie Trout led our team offensively with a batting average of over .400. The girls were eager to be back, and they were ready to play after a year off in 2020. I think it was tougher for our coaching staff (including assistant Danielle Sayres), because we really had to focus on reevaluating everything to help us get better every day in such a short amount of time.”

Trout will continue her career at the next level as she’ll attend Linfield University in McMinnville and play on the NCAA Division III Wildcats softball team.

Hawks’ sophomore starting pitcher Kennedy Abbas pitched a complete game in the circle, striking out five and walking four. Abbas was 1-for-4 at the plate with a single. Trout, who led the Hawks in homers with nine, was unable to get an opportunity to help ignite a Hawk rally as she drew three walks (one intentional) from Cowgirl freshman pitcher Jaycee Villastrigo.

Freshman shortstop Jeilane Stewart (1-for-3, home run, RBI), third baseman Zoe LeBreton (2-for-4, double, single) and sophomore outfielder Ella Smith (3-for-3, three singles, RBI) led the Hawks offense.