TENINO — Napavine head coach Josh Fay has been begging for eighth grader Dakota Lyons to get the timing of her powerful swing down. She was often behind on pitches, and if she did barrel it up, it darted up the middle.
But Fay knew Lyons had plenty of pop in her swing, and she displayed it in dramatic fashion Friday night with her first career home run on a three-run bomb to right in a 10-0 win over Tenino.
“That’s the first time I think she’s pulled a ball all year,” Fay said of Lyons. “She’s got some pop in her bat. There’s no doubt about that.”
Lyons’ big swing in the fifth inning was part of her career day in Napavine's regular season finale, as she drove in a career-best five runs and needed only 48 pitches in the circle to hold Tenino to one hit in five innings while striking out five.
“I had a good defense behind me, so I knew that I could trust them. If I threw strikes and they could hit, I knew we could win,” Lyons said.
Chloe Fay was responsible for Napavine’s first two runs of the day in the first inning, driving in a pair on a single to center. In the circle, Lyons dominated from the jump, retiring the first 11 batters she faced.
Lyons gave herself some run support in the fourth with a two-run double, and Hannah Fay followed her up with a two-run double of her own. Hayden Kaut tacked on a sacrifice fly to make it 7-0 through four before Lyons cranked a 2-1 pitch over the right field fence to extend the lead to 10-0 in the fifth.
“I felt like it was right down the middle, the perfect pitch for anyone really,” Lyons said. “That was my pitch.”
Lyons registered her eighth multi-hit game of the season and topped her career high with five RBIs. Her shutout effort in the circle lowered her earned run average to 1.37, and she has struck out 47 batters and walked just four in 35.2 innings pitched this spring.
As Napavine (13-3, 7-1 Central 2B League) finishes its regular season and enters the 2B District 4 Tournament next week with the second seed, Lyons believes she can be a strong asset alongside Hannah Fay in the pitching rotation.
“I think I’ll be a big asset if she gets tired. I know last season, she didn’t really have anyone else, but I feel like I can help a lot,” she said.
Fay credited Lyons’ efficiency Friday as she retired 15 of 16 batters faced.
“She threw a lot of strikes. The big strength for this team for both her and Hannah is the defense that plays behind them,” he said. “We are our best when we throw strikes, and she gave our kids a lot of opportunities to make plays. She was pounding the zone and hit locations really well.”
Tenino (2-15, 0-8 Evergreen League) has one more regular season contest against Castle Rock on Monday before its tough year concludes, but head coach Chris Johnson believes his young team has improved “tenfold” over the course of the year.
“I think we’re definitely building for next year 100%. Our eighth graders have come to play. Our leaders have stepped up and have really started to do well,” Johnson said. “I’m really excited for what next year is gonna bring for us.”
