BY GERARDO BOLONG
Special to the Highline Times

The plan of putting the ball in play served the 1A Nisqually League Seattle Christian girls fast pitch softball team well in an 8-4 home victory against the 2A South Puget Sound League Franklin Pierce Cardinals on Friday, March 31.

"We had solid pitching, hit the ball hard and put the ball in play," said Warrior head coach Rick Ronish.
These factors came into play strongly in the bottom of the sixth inning when Seattle Christian used slight tremors of short range base hits to create an earthquake of offense after trailing 2-1.

Hannah Glynn punched a single before Lexi Bates hit a single just into left field as part of the Warrior initial surge. As the consecutive base hits accumulated, Seattle Christian created a major offensive upheaval. Maddy Fors singled through the left side and Kelli Ronish pulled the ball into right field for a one-baser as Seattle Christian gained a 4-2 lead. The hits just kept on coming. Kelsey Wieland singled through the middle for a run and Carli Ronish reached first on a ground ball to third base when the fielder held the ball without a throw.

Two infield pop fly outs later, Grace Harwell broke out of a prolonged batting slump to uncork a bases-clearing triple.

"It felt really good, because I haven't been doing very well (at the plate)," said an exuberant Harwell.
Glynn came to bat for the second time in the inning to single home the seventh Warrior run to place Seattle Christian in full command at 8-2.

On the pitching and defensive side of the SC ledger, Carli Ronish carried a one-hitter into the seventh inning before Franklin Pierce teed off a trio of extra base hits that produced two runs before Ronish struck out a batter and induced a pop fly out to herself to register the win.

"After the first inning, I just had think about going batter by batter," she said.

In the top of the first inning, the Cardinals struck for a pair of runs without the benefit of a hit.

The Lady Warriors returned fire in the home half of the inning on a Kelli Ronish double that preceded Wieland's run-scoring pop fly double before the match up settled into pitching and defense until the sixth inning upheaval.
Wieland and Glynn posted three hits apiece as Kelli Ronish, Fors and Bates each registered two hits.
"It was a great team effort that I saw," said Ronish.
During the respite from the rain, SC posted a Thurs. 14-6 home win against Vashon Island in its opening league game.

This edition of Warrior softball will need to depend more upon small ball than in previous years while also exhibiting flexibility in positioning.

"This is a young team," concluded coach Ronish. "We're utilizing 10-12 players thus far and different players have stepped up each game. We're small (in power hitting) this year and need to put the ball in play, getting the occasional timely hit."

With the upcoming InterScession and Easter Break coming up, the Warriors (4-1-1) will stay idle on the game front until they host Bellevue Christian in a key league game on Tues., April 18, at 4 p.m.

+Note: The term InterScession is a special designation for Seattle Christian activities.