It was a tale of two home doubleheaders for the Centralia College softball team, falling on Friday afternoon to Chemeketa by 9-7 and 13-11 verdicts, then behind a pair of Centralia High School alums Makayla Chavez and Gracie Schofield, allowed them to upend Umpqua 2-1 and 10-7 on Saturday.
All of the offense in Game 1 against the Riverhawks came late. An RBI single put them in front 1-0 and prior to the bottom of the seventh, the Trailblazers had just three hits and left eight runners on base. It took one swing from Chavez to change everything.
With two outs and a 2-1 count, the CC shortstop blasted a walk-off two-run home run. The Blazers drew seven walks, three of them by Sara Haury, and Schofield plus Natalie Loose also notched a hit in the win. Starter Ava Hernandez tossed a complete game in the circle with eight strikeouts.
In the nightcap, CC (7-5) erupted for five runs in the fifth to take the lead for good. Back-to-back walks kickstarted the frame that led to run-scoring hits from Haury, Loose, Lena Fragner and Sheridan Hammons. Schofield’s two hits were a double and a home run while also driving in three runs, scoring three times and drawing two walks
Loose finished 3-for-4 with a pair of RBIs plus in the circle, Emma Hoffmeister struck out five in five innings of work. Hernandez pitched the final two innings for the save.
The Trailblazers offense woke up too late in Friday’s opener versus Chemeketa, cutting a six-run deficit to two with four runs in the bottom of the sixth. They could not take advantage of a one-out walk in the seventh and left the tying run at the plate.
Schofield shined in this one as well, recording a double and a home run with four RBIs and a stolen base. Macey Fluetsch also registered a double and drove in two runs, but CC struggled with runners on base, stranding nine.
Game 2 versus the Storm was a thriller that featured six runs in the bottom of the seventh that sent the game into extras. W.F. West grad Lena Fragner jumpstarted the rally with a two-run double followed by RBI singles from Hoffmeister, Haury and Michaela Dueck and then Chavez drew a bases loaded RBI walk.
Dueck tied the game again with a run-scoring base hit in the eighth, but Chemeketa’s Megan Trissell launched a two-run homer in the ninth to give it the lead. CC went 1-2-3 in the bottom half of the inning.
Fragner went 4-for-5 at the plate with a pair of doubles and three RBIs while Haury notched three hits and drew three walks. Three other CC batters recorded two hits and in the circle, Hoffmeister struck out nine in relief.
The Blazers will play four more games this weekend, battling Clark on the road on Friday and host Clackamas on Saturday.
CC baseball gets back to .500 with series win
The Trailblazers bats arrived in their three wins in a four-game set versus Big Bend, claiming wins of 9-7, 9-3 and 8-3 over the weekend. They swept both games on Saturday and garnered a split on Friday at Big Bend CC.
Since March started, the Blazers are 9-5 to crawl back to a 12-12 record with a four-game NWAC series against Tacoma set to start at home on Thursday.
In the finale of Friday’s doubleheader, CC won in the margins with an RBI single from Tanner Stack in the sixth and plating five runs in the seventh, one more tally than Big Bend. Two run-scoring singles by Reuben Elliston and Brandt Kneisler were the big hits in the frame. That trio all recorded two RBIs.
Kneisler and Mitchell Rowe each notched two hits for the Blazers while Nolan Christ had a double, a walk, scored once and stole one base.
Blazers starter in Saturday’s Game 1 Asher Guerrero went seven strong and struck out five while working around three walks and seven hits. CC’s bats provided constant run support with runs in all but three frames. It plated two runs in the sixth and three in the eighth.
Despite striking out 13 times, the Trailblazers notched 10 hits and Rowe delivered the bigger ones with an RBI double in the fourth and the three eighth inning runs came on his home run. Kneisler and Maverick Harper both had two hits and Christ drove in two runs.
CC broke a 3-3 tie in the series finale with a five-run seventh, highlighted by Rowe and Jace Byakri leaving the yard for two-run shots each. In the inning prior, Jack Skelley tied the game with a solo home run.
The Blazers also recorded four stolen bases and could have done more damage but left 17 runners on base. Rowe, Bykari and Skelley were responsible for half of their hits and all of their RBIs. Reece Hudson tossed four innings of shutout ball out of the bullpen with a pair of strikeouts.
In the lone game CC lost, it had four errors and even with nine hits, left double digit runners on base. Skelley went 3-for-4 in the setback with a double while Christ and Jason Alexander each recorded an RBI. Liam Karlson struck out eight in six innings on the bump.
