THE DALLES – The Dalles/Dufur High School took down Hidden Valley High School, 10-0, in round one of the 16-team OSAA Class 4A state softball playoffs on May 27 at 16th Street Ballpark in The Dalles.
The No. 3-ranked Riverhawks (25-3), led by head coach Duane Witter, started hot from the plate and never let up, finishing with five home runs as a team against the No. 14 Mustangs (13-12).
“I chalk it all up on my coaching staff,” said Witter. “I've got a great coaching staff. We have great players. It's really about the time that everybody puts in that makes a difference. We were playing against a tough team. They kept us off balance there with their pitching and the great thing is that we were disciplined at the plate. It made the difference.”
The Riverhawks struck first in the top of the second behind a solo home run to left field from senior Maddy Sagapolutele in the bottom of the first. Then, senior Hailey Johnston popped up an RBI sac fly, sending home a run to make it 2-0 Riverhawks in the bottom of the second.
In the bottom of the third, junior Morgan Donivan hit a solo shot to center field to push the lead to 3-0, followed by a three-run home run from senior Siyra Faulkner to center to extend the lead to 6-0 Riverhawks.
“I think we all play really well together and we just know how to play with each other,” said Faulkner.
Senior Ava Graves hit a solo shot to left field to open up the bottom of four and then Donivan hit her second home run of the night, to make it 8-0 Riverhawks. The Dalles scored their final two runs at the bottom of five to enact the mercy rule (team leads by ten or more runs by the fifth inning).
“We're just so excited (to move on to round two) and we're playing as a team,” said Donivan. “It's exciting to see everyone play together.”
Next up, The Dalles/Dufur plays Gladstone High School on Friday, May 29, at 5 p.m. in a home quarterfinal state playoff matchup.
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