Hitting took a holiday for the Decatur girls fastpitch softball team in an 8-0 South Puget Sound League 4A South Division loss at home to divison leader Puyallup on Friday, April 30.

Viking hurler Kelsey Robinson allowed only three hits while striking out 11 with no walks.

"Give the pitcher credit," said Gator head coach Molly Rutter. "We knew where she was going to throw it, but we couldn't adjust to hit the outside corner pitch. She was in command and we were looking for people to stand up for quality at bats."

The Vikings moved to 12-2 league and 15-3 overall. For the Gators, their record turned into 2-9 and 3-12.

Puyallup obtained all the runs it needed in the first two innings to build a 4-0 lead. Decatur was still within 4-0 after five complete innings, but a Sara Rose solo homer in the sixth along with three Viking tallies in the seventh inning swamped the Gators.

Kayla Lipston batted 2-for-2 to lead Decatur. Her two hits were on two differently designed bunt singles. In the first inning Lipston batted from the right side and laid down a perfect bunt that died down the first base line. In the sixth inning, the Gator senior switched to the left side of the batter's box and drag bunted herself to first base.

"I've been working on batting from both sides of the plate," she explained. "Against the really tough pitchers, I'm comfortable to bunt. The second bunt was from the left side because I wanted to get a running start."

Sidney Sprecher's chip shot single to right field with one out in the fourth inning accounted for the other Decatur hit. Sprecher was promptly erased on a double play that began on a line out to the pitcher.

Defensively, right fielder Courtney Fay robbed a Puyallup batter of a base hit by throwing the runner out on a sharply hit ball to right field.

"I didn't know where the runner was," she explained. "My teammates yelled at me to throw to first. I trust them, so I threw there."

Left fielder Lipscomb threw out a runner at the plate in the second inning.