No. 1-ranked Clatskanie remained unbeaten and in command of Special District 1 play Tuesday with a 7-2 defeat of host Taft High in a showdown of top-five rated Class 3A softball teams.
“They definitely have the best pitcher we have faced so far,” Taft coach Sandy Stuart said. “She was able to keep us off balance and we were unfortunately not able to put the ball in play much with runners on base.”
The Tigers scored one run in the first and last innings, but struggled in a five-run third and two-run fifth by Clatskanie despite 11 strikeouts from junior starter Emma Coulter.
“We definitely stranded too many base runners today and did not take advantage of a great pitcher handing us eight walks,” said Stuart, whose Tigers left 10 runners. “Hopefully, that is something we can overcome the next time we face them on the road.”
Coulter and her freshman sister, Olivia, drove in Taft’s two runs, while freshman Addie Gates and junior All-State catcher Hailee Danneker crossed the plate for the Tigers. Emma Coulter had three, and freshman Chloe Peterson one, of Taft’s four hits.
The Tigers fell to10-5 overall and 3-2 in league play, while Clastskanie, also nicknamed the Tigers, improved to 12-0, 4-0.
“We are starting to really come together and work through some of our tricky innings,” Stuart said. “I am proud of the way our leaders are building players up and keeping the team in the game the entire time.”
Taft hosts Blanchet Catholic at 4:30 p.m. Wednesday before traveling to Rainier for a 3 p.m. Friday league doubleheader.
“This is definitely a tough week of games for us,” Stuart said. “But they are making us better players and teammates and preparing us for the postseason.”
Clatskanie 7, Taft 2 CLATSKANIE AB R H BI TAFT AB R H BI O Sprague 1 2 0 0 Hailee Danneker 2 1 0 0 A Smith 4 1 1 3 Addie Gates 2 1 0 0 S Blodgett 3 2 2 0 Emma Coulter 4 0 3 1 T Hamm 4 0 1 0 Kayla Lininger 1 0 0 0 K Harrison 3 0 0 0 Lily Hatton 1 0 0 0 M Jackson 3 0 0 0 Olivia Coulter 2 0 0 1 K Sizemore 3 1 1 0 Claira Tolan 4 0 0 0 S Hummer 3 0 0 0 Makena Cole 2 0 0 0 J Makinson 3 1 1 0 Kyla Knott 2 0 0 0 Caitlyn Rundstrom 1 0 0 0 Chloe Peterson 3 0 1 0 TOTALS 27 7 6 3 TOTALS 24 2 4 2 CLATSKANIE 005 020 0 -- 7 TAFT 100 000 1 -- 2 LOB--CLATSKANIE 3, TAFT 10. E--O Sprague, Kyla Knott, Addie Gates, Emma Coulter. 2B--Emma Coulter (2). 3B--A Smith. SACB--Addie Gates. SB--O Sprague (2), S Blodgett, Makena Cole, Emma Coulter. CLATSKANIE IP H R ER BB SO HR S Blodgett 7.00 4 2 2 8 12 0 TAFT Emma Coulter 7.00 6 7 3 4 11 0 PB--T Hamm (2). WP--S Blodgett (4), Emma Coulter (2). SO--T Hamm (2), O Sprague, A Smith (2), S Hummer (3), K Harrison, J Makinson, S Blodgett, Kyla Knott (2), Addie Gates, Caitlyn Rundstrom, Kayla Lininger, Lily Hatton, Hailee Danneker, Chloe Peterson (2), Claira Tolan (2), Emma Coulter. BB--O Sprague (3), S Blodgett, Addie Gates, Kayla Lininger, Lily Hatton, Olivia Coultyer (2), Makena Cole, Hailee Danneker (2).
