Taft High reaffirmed there’s no place like home Tuesday in a game moved due to wet playing conditions and defeated Willamina 11-0 in a Special District 1 game shortened to five innings by the 10-run mercy rule.
“We came out aggressive swinging the bats hard and playing tough defense,” Taft coach Sandy Stuart said.
The Tigers scored in every inning in support of the two-hit shutout pitching of junior Emma Coulter, who struck out nine and walked two.
“We scored runs in each inning, which is one of the offensive goals we set for ourselves,” Stuart said. “It was another important league win for us on the road to the playoffs.”
Junior catcher Hailee Danneker had two doubles and joined Coulter by scoring three times for Taft.
Sophomore Kayla Lininger also doubled and drove home three runs for the Tigers. Coulter had two RBIs.
Taft improved to 10-4, 3-1 with the win, while Willamina fell to 4-6, 0-2.
The Tigers meet Amity at 4:30 p.m. Wednesday on the road before playing four games in four days next week.
Taft 11, Willamina 0 WILLAMINA AB R H BI TAFT AB R H BI T Hunt 3 0 0 0 Hailee Danneker 3 3 2 1 M Tuck 2 0 1 0 Addie Gates 3 1 1 0 K Graham 2 0 0 0 Emma Coulter 3 3 1 2 E Neville 2 0 0 0 Kayla Lininger 1 1 1 3 R Mooney 1 0 1 0 Olvia Coulter 1 1 1 1 M Mooney 1 0 0 0 Claira Tolan 3 0 0 0 E Shrabel 2 0 0 0 Lily Hatton 2 0 1 0 L Nolen 1 0 0 0 Makena Cole 0 0 0 0 B Burk 1 0 0 0 Kyla Knott 1 0 0 0 O Mestas 1 0 0 0 Caitlyn Rundstrom 1 0 0 0 D Leno 1 0 0 0 Chloe Peterson 1 2 1 1 TOTALS 17 0 2 0 TOTALS 19 11 8 8 WILLAMINA 000 00 -- 0 TAFT 424 1x -- 11 LOB--WILLAMINA 4, TAFT 7. E--M Mooney. 2B--Kayla Lininger, Hailee Danneker (2). HBP--Olivia Coulter, Hailee Danneker. SACF--Kayla Lininger. SB--R Mooney, Hailee Danneker, Chloe Peterson. WILLAMINA IP H R ER BB SO HR L Nolen 3.00 8 10 9 5 1 0 K Graham 1.00 0 1 1 3 0 0 TAFT Emma Coulter 5.00 2 0 0 2 9 0 WP--L Nolen (3), K Graham. SO--B Burk, D Leno, E Shrabel, L Nolen, E Neville, O Mestas, T Hunt, K Graham (2), Claira Tolan. BB--M Mooney, R Mooney, Kyla Knott, Addie Gates, Kayla Lininger, Olvia Coulter, Makena Cole, Chloe Peterson (2), Emma Coulter.
