Thursday's 2B Softball: Adna and Pe Ell-Willapa Valley Split Doubleheader

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ADNA — The defending state champs got a win in the opener, but Adna rallied in the nightcap to hand Pe Ell-Willapa Valley its first loss of the season and salvage a split here Thursday in a twinbill between two of the top three teams in the Central 2B League softball ranks.

The Titans came from behind in Game 1 for an 11-3 win, but Adna pulled the same trick and Emma Eko’s RBI double in the sixth gave the Pirates the lead in what turned out to be a 4-3 win in Game 2.

“I thought we were a little sloppy. Honestly, I thought we played a bit abnormal, I think. Give them (Adna) a lot of credit,” PWV coach Ken Olson said. “That team over there is a good solid team. They wanted it just as bad as we did and they came out on the right end in that second game.”

The Pirates led 3-0 after an inning in the opener, but PWV scored seven in the fifth and held on for a win. Kamryn Adkins pitched all seven innings for the Titans, allowing nine hits with no earned runs with four strikeouts.

Katelyn McGough hit a three-run homer to highlight PWV’s fifth-inning outburst. Sid Pollard was 3 for 5 with a double and Katie Adkins was also 3 for 5.

In Game 2, Pollard hit a solo home run in the first inning, but Adna grabbed the lead in the fourth inning on a two-run homer by Olivia Rodriguez.

The Titans answered in the fifth with two runs to regain the lead, but Haley Rainey tied the game in the fifth with an RBI double.

Eko’s double in the sixth inning scored Skye Snow to put Adna up 4-3. PWV had runners on the corners with two outs, but a line shot to the shortstop ended the game.

Both teams were playing their third and fourth games in two days.

“I really liked our effort today in the dugout. We were in the game a lot better all day today,” Adna coach Bruce Pocklington said, noting the difficulty of back-to-back twinbills. “So we competed today very well. We still need to compete a little better in the batter’s box. I loved our attitude and our effort today, even when we were down pretty good.”

The pitchers battled each other to nearly identical lines in Game 2. Katie Adkins struck out three and allowed nine hits with four earned runs, while Adna’s Kiyah Kennedy struck four with eight hits and three earned runs.

Pollard was 2 for 3, Britney Patrick had a double and an RBI and Katie Adkins was 2 for 4 with a run for the Titans.

Rodriguez and Rainey were each 2 for 3 for Adna.

The teams know each other well and, as usual in top-tier C2BL matchups, recognize the likelihood of facing off again in the playoffs.

“They’re a good club and so are we. It’s going to come down to the same teams again and that’s just the way it’s going to work,” Olson said. “I think both teams wanted to play each other. We knew we were going to get after these guys and we knew they were going to come ready to play. They all know each other and that’s the cool part about it.”

The coaches, too, know each other well; Olson coached Pocklington’s oldest daughter, Parker, at Centralia High School, and Pocklington helped out on Olson’s staff.

“It’s kind of an emotional time for us because we’ve been good friends forever and he’s a great coach and all the credit in the world to him because he had his club ready to go,” Olson said of Pocklington, in his first year as Adna’s softball coach.



Pocklington coached baseball at Pe Ell in the early 1990s, and got a bit of well-intentioned heckling from friends on the PWV side.

“They’re all my hunting partners. The funny thing is all these guys yelling at me, they’ve got girls playing now or they’ve got boys playing now,” Pocklington said. “We always meet up in November, September and hunt and it’s a good time.

“Ken does a good job,” he added. “He’s a great coach.”

Adna (9-3, 9-3) hosts Hoquiam in a nonleague game on Friday while PWV (11-1, 11-1) hosts La Center on Friday in Pe Ell in a nonleague game.

Tigers Crush Rainier

RAINIER — Napavine stayed undefeated here Thursday with a 29-5, 23-2 sweep of Rainier in C2BL softball action.

Kaiya Larson hit her first career home run for the Tigers in Game 1, and Taylor Denault pitched four of the twinbill’s six innings.

“She threw extremely well today,” Napavine coach Chad Williams said. “For the most part she’s not been a pitcher for us, so it was nice to get somebody else out there in the circle for a change.”

Napavine (11-0, 10-0 league) plays Pe Ell-Willapa Valley in Pe Ell on Monday in a rematch of last year’s District 4 and State 2B championship games.

Ducks Fly Past Cardinals

WINLOCK — Toutle Lake swept Winlock, 17-1 and 15-3, here Thursday in a C2BL softball twinbill.

Raychel Squibb had two hits for Winlock in the opener, while Kendal Bennett was 4 for 5 for Toutle Lake. Keeley Studebaker-Smith added a grand slam and a triple with six total RBIs.

Jenna Jones went 1 for 2 and drove in a run in Game 2 for the Cardinals, but Toutle Lake’s Kaylee Florek held the Cardinals to two hits in five innings and struck out six.

Katelynn Redmill went 3 for 4 with a pair of doubles and drove in five runs for the Ducks.

“They’re a good ball club. They hit the ball everywhere, and they execute well,” Winlock coach Chantel Nelson said. “But I was proud of my team. We had very minimal errors, and played a lot better than the score actually reflects.”

Winlock (4-7, 3-7 league) hosts Kalama in a doubleheader on Monday.