MONTESANO — Something had to give Monday afternoon in Grays Harbor, with two of the top pitchers in the area duking it out for a spot into the double elimination rounds of the 2B District 4 tournament.
Ocosta’s Jessie Gilbert and Onalaska’s Lisa Liddell went toe-to-toe for seven innings, nearly matching strikeout for strikeout, but Gilbert’s Wildcats prevailed in a 1-0 victory in Montesano Monday afternoon.
Gilbert tossed a no-hitter, with Ony recording just one baserunner off an error, and only getting as far as second before the sophomore got out of the inning unscathed. Gilbert struck out 19 batters in the winning effort, and went 2 for 3 at the plate.
Liddell, to her credit, struck out 13 batters, allowed just five hits with no walks, and only gave up the one run on a pivotal set of at-bats in the sixth.
Ocosta’s Brynn Rasmus reached on a single, and then scored an at-bat later when Zaida Morales hit an RBI double to score what would turn out to be the only run of the game.
Liddell and Gilbert combined to strike out 32 of the 48 batters they faced.
“Can’t say anything bad about her, she came out firing from the get-go,” Ony coach Rich Teitzel said. “We laid off her rise ball and went with her curveball and it worked for the most part.”
At the plate, the Loggers had trouble all year against Gilbert, suffering two defeats in the regular season to Ocosta and not faring much better Monday afternoon.
Yuliana Escalera advanced on an error, and stole a base to reach second, but the Loggers couldn’t do enough at the plate to move her over and score a run on their lone chance of the day.
“They battled all seven innings, every game,” Teitzel said of his group. “They’re real young, we need to be more disciplined, but I see a lot of good things in them. They have the heart, we just need a bit more experience.”
The Loggers graduate just one senior, Emma Judson, and will return every other contributor from this season’s team after the season-ending defeat in the first round of the 2B District 4 tournament.
“Next year we’ll be a year older,” Teitzel said. “They have the heart and I expect big things from them.”
