Five errors and 10 strikeouts were the recipe for a difficult outing Tuesday as the Taft High softball team fell to Rainier 11-4 in its Special District 1 debut.
“It didn’t feel great to lose our league opener, but we are moving forward,” Taft coach Sandy Stuart said. “Rainier has a good program and strong softball players.”
Junior catcher Haiiee Danneker had two hits, an RBI and a run to lead the Tigers at the plate, while freshman Olivia Coulter scored twice as Taft remained within striking distance until a seven-run, seventh-inning uprising by Rainier.
“We competed hard for the first half of the game and then a series of mental errors and mishaps led to issues and runs,” Stuart said. “Our bats didn’t fully wake up until late in the game.”
Both teams stand 7-4 with Taft scheduled to return to action at 3 p.m. Friday in a home league doubleheader.
“We have had an unfortunate series of injuries, illness and lack of focus and commitment recently and we are hopeful that we can overcome that quickly,” Stuart said. “We have a lot of games to play still this season.”
Rainier 11, Taft 4 RAINIER AB R H BI TAFT AB R H BI R Schimmel 4 2 1 1 Hailee Danneker 3 1 2 1 P Kellar 4 2 3 1 Addie Gates 3 1 1 0 J Larsen 4 1 2 2 Chloe Peterson 3 0 0 0 T King 4 0 0 0 Emma Coulter 4 0 0 0 E Melvin 3 2 1 1 Olivia Coulter 3 1 1 2 J Knox 3 1 1 1 Claira Tolan 3 0 1 0 K Brusco 4 0 0 0 Lily Hatton 3 0 0 0 A Crape 1 0 0 0 Kayla Lininger 3 0 1 0 R O'Brien 3 1 2 0 Kyla Knott 3 1 1 0 K Howell 3 2 0 0 TOTALS 33 11 10 6 TOTALS 28 4 7 3 RAINIER 000 220 7 -- 11 TAFT 000 003 1 -- 4 LOB--Rainier 7, Taft 6. E--R O'Brien, Chloe Peterson (3), Claira Tolan, Corey VanDamme. 2B--E Melvin, Hailee Danneker. HBP--K Howell, Addie Gates, Hailee Danneker, Chloe Peterson. SB--P Kellar, R Schimmel, Addie Gates, Claira Tolan. RAINIER IP H R ER BB SO HR T King 7.00 7 4 3 0 10 0 TAFT Emma Coulter 7.00 10 11 6 5 7 0 PB--Hailee Danneker (2). WP--T King (2), Emma Coulter (3). SO--A Crape, K Brusco (3), K Howell, E Melvin, J Larsen, Addie Gates (2), Kayla Lininger, Lily Hatton (2), Chloe Peterson (3), Claira Tolan (2). BB--J Knox, E Melvin, P Kellar, R Schimmel, J Larsen.
