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PHOTO BY ROCKY ROSS

FIELD IT CLEANLY. Stadium’s Sam Miller fields the ball during the Tigers’ 13-3 victory over the Mount Tahoma Thunderbirds March 17. Miller went 2-3 in the game with a pair of RBIs.

Tigers slug past Mount Tahoma

By Ben Miller

After getting rained out every game of the opening week of the season, the Stadium Tigers finally took to the softball field against the Mount Tahoma Thunderbirds March 17. For the Tigers it was well worth the wait.

On the power of a first inning home run by Jordyn Kurtz, the Tigers downed the Thunderbirds by a score of 13-3. It was the first step in a season that the Tigers hope to be at least as successful as their second place Narrows League Bridge Division performance last year.

With sporadic rainfall making its presence felt on the softball diamond and cold winds making things especially hard for hitters in the batting box, Stadium coach Lynn Batchelder was impressed with her team’s performance offensively.

“I was surprised with how well we hit,” she said. “I liked offensively that we had great contact for such a cold, wet day – hitting at this time of year usually lags behind.”

But it certainly didn’t lag behind against Mount Tahoma.

Stadium scored three runs in the first inning, including a two-run home run by Kurtz that flew right over the center field fence.

“I was really excited about that,” Kurtz said.

With the early lead, the Tigers didn’t back off. They stayed aggressive at the plate and, thanks to the solid pitching by Kurtz on the mound, the Tigers were able to push out to a 9-1 lead in the top of the fourth inning.

Anna Dudley and Stephanie Reddaway led off the fourth inning with back-to-back doubles. Two batters later, Sarah Glennon hit a long single that snuck past the Thunderbird center fielder and turned into an inside-the-park home run, scoring two runs. In total, the Tigers scored four runs in the fourth inning.

The Thunderbirds struck back with two runs in the bottom of the fourth, but by that time it was too late. Stadium had built itself a big lead and relied on Kurtz to finish strong on the mound. She pitched all six innings, giving up two earned runs and striking out eight in the ballgame.

“Weather was definitely a struggle, but I thought I did well,” Kurtz said.

To go along with her inside- the-park home run, Glennon went 3-4 at the plate. She had three runs scored and three RBIs. She was just a double away from completing the cycle.

Even though her team came out with the victory, Batchelder still saw room for improvement.

“Always when you win, no matter what, it’s a good way to start,” she said. “I think we’ve got some things to work on. I think we need to work on our outfield (defense).”

But she was encouraged by the play of the younger players on the team.

“I was also happy with our freshmen,” she said. “We have some new players and I thought they did well for their first game out.”

Stadium had six extra-base hits in the game, while Mount Tahoma only managed to go for two. Both teams return to the field March 21, with Stadium heading north to play Central Kitsap at 3:30 p.m., while the Thunderbirds host North Kitsap.

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