Seamount League co-champion Mount Rainier tuned up for Class 3A West Central District play with a 5-2 nonleague girls softball win at Fife on Tuesday, May 11.

Mount Rainier split a home and home series with John F.Kennedy to finish in a 15-1 tie with the Lancers in league play and improved to 16-4 overall with the win against the Trojans.

It was an important game for staying sharp before district action.

"We definitely needed the seven innings," said Ram head coach Javid Shoemaker. "There are little things to improve on. We'll try some different things while we wait for the district seedings."

Mount Rainier struck early with single run innings for an early lead. in the first inning, a two-out infield error placed a runner on base for the Rams. Amanda Hopkins followed with a long single to put Mount Rainier on top, 1-0.

With one out in the second inning, Sunny Dorhofer singled to right field before stealing second base. Tristan Yong's one-baser then chased the second run home.

Leading off the third inning, Maylynn Mitchell singled. Mitchell eventually stole second base and advanced to third base on a wild pitch. Enter Amanda Hopkins to deliver another run-scoring single to extend the lead to 3-0.

The score stayed that way until the sixth inning. Tasia Keane's single with one out ignited a key Mount Rainier eruption. Dorhofer walked ahead of Yong's perfect bunt single that loaded the bases. One out later, Taylor Fillmore rocketed a two-run single that magnified the Ram advantage to 5-0.

Ram pitcher BJ Mipolar held Fife off for most of the game in the face of continuous Trojan runners by earning third out strikeouts in three of the first four innings while the Mount Rainier defense held strongly.

Despite getting runners on base every inning, Fife was only able to score in the sixth. Tessa Wagner led off with a single before Lauren Littlejohn followed with a single for runners on first and second base. One strikeout later, with runners on second and third base, Allison Lindstrom grounded a ball to third base. The third baseman threw home, but the runner barely avoided being tagged. Lauren Jennings singled home Fife's final run.

"We just couldn't get hits when we needed to," observed Trojan headcoach Bill Burk. "They have good hitters and it was a great for us to play a high quality team."

For Mount Rainier players, it was also important to be in action.

"It was a really good game for us," declared Hopkins who led all hitters by batting 3-for-4 with 2 RBI. "We got to get experience against better pitching today. I think we're going to be strong in the playoffs like last year."

Last season, Mount Rainier performed in the state tournament.

Yong added to the Mount Rainier offense by batting 2-for-4 with an RBI. Mipolar pitched a complete seven inning win, striking out eight and allowing eight hits.
For Fife, Littlejohn and Kristen McIntosh were each 2-for-4. Wagner went the distance on the mound, allowing nine hits.