By Mike Weber
For Columbia Gorge News
THE DALLES — For the No. 2-ranked OSAA Class 4A The Dalles High Riverhawks (8-1) softball team, perhaps playing eight games in nine days was just a little too overwhelming.
The Riverhawks were undefeated and ranked No. 1 prior to a March 31 non-league home game versus the No. 4-ranked Scappoose High Indians. Guided by second-year Coach Duane Witter, the team had their eight-game win streak snapped in a 6-0 loss to the Indians (8-1), a 2025 state quarterfinalist squad. The Riverhawks were limited to a season low four hits.
“We’ve played a lot of games recently, but we just have to take the loss with a grain of salt and then just refocus,” said Witter. “I won’t take anything away from Scappoose, which probably has the most dominant pitcher [senior Saige Casey] in Class 4A. She really knows how to find the strike zone.”
Junior Morgan Donivan led the Riverhawks with one hit. The Riverhawks’ top-hitter, senior Maddy Sagapolutele, drew four walks from Casey.
“We had some really solid and hard hits, but unfortunately, they were just hit right to the Scappoose players,” said Witter. “We were hitting the ball hard, which I was happy to see. They hit two home runs, so that made it a little tough for us defensively. It was a good learning experience for us, though.”
The Riverhawks’ grueling non-league schedule might have been a contributing factor in the loss for the team, which has the No. 1 ranked offense (11.44 runs per game average) among the 28 4A squads. The experienced team (five seniors, five juniors) has scored 103 runs in nine games — a key to their success.
Last year, the Riverhawks took second place in the Tri-Valley Conference (TVC) last year behind Gladstone, and they begin their 12-game TVC schedule April 23 at Madras. The Dalles was scheduled to host No 5-ranked Pendleton (5-2) on April 7 — which will be the Riverhawks’ third consecutive game versus a top five ranked squad.
Their next nonleague contest is a local one versus the Class 5A Hood River Valley High Eagles (0-8) at Westside Elementary School in Hood River, beginning at 5 p.m. on April 9. The Eagles have a very young team with five freshman and only one senior in Kenadie Lucas.
“It’s going to be a fun rivalry game … I have lots of good friends that live there,” said Witter. “They are struggling a little bit this year, so we don’t want to be caught flat-footed. We don’t want go there and let them get their first win, so we’ll need to take care of business. I just feel blessed by having such a good, solid group of seniors [Ava Graves, Sagapolutele, Hailey Johnston, Makenzie Barrett, and Siyra Faulkner]. We’re just hoping to refocus now after losing to Scappoose.”
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