It’s been a tough week for the South Kitsap softball team as they lost their third-straight game 12-6 against Yelm April 16 in Port Orchard.

SK (3-5) entered the matchup losing two games over the previous two days, falling to Bonney Lake 10-0 April 15 and Emerald Ridge 6-4 April 14.

“This week has been a challenging week for the kids in my program,” SK coach Bobby Lawrence said. “We’re the only school in (South Puget Sound League) on spring break, so we’re missing a bunch of kids.”

SK pitcher Madison Bonilla let up a home run in the top of the second on her first pitch of the inning, giving Yelm an early 1-0 lead. SK responded with a score of their own in the bottom of the second off a double from Wolve catcher Reagan Byrd and an RBI sacrifice fly to center field from Hannah Roebuck, tying the game at 1-1.

Julianna Ridgeway received a walk, getting the Wolves a runner on base in the bottom of the third. Ridgeway later advanced to second off a wild pitch. SK continued to score after Byrd hit a single to center field, giving the Wolves their first lead of the game 4-3.

Bonilla gave up a home run to the first Yelm batter in the top of the fourth, tying the game up at four apiece. A series of SK errors added to Yelm’s scoring in the top of the fourth, giving the Tornados an 8-4 lead over the Wolves.

“I think a lot of it [the challenges] is just getting used to playing around somewhere else, not in your normal position, and keeping the energy there,” Ronan Byrd of SK said.

Yelm got another home run on the board in the top of the fifth, prompting Lawrence to take Bonilla out of the game and replace her with Olivia Isler.

Isler maintained a strong pitching performance in the top of the sixth, letting up one run off an RBI single. Kelsie Hynek managed to get on base in the bottom of the sixth and stole second and third. Hynek scored on a wild pitch, cutting into Yelm’s lead 11-6.

Nonetheless, SK found themselves in a hole in the top of the seventh, loading the bases once again with no outs. Bonilla came back in as the pitcher for SK in an attempt to prevent any scores from Yelm.

“Five of the runs they got were earned,” Lawrence said. “Those are the things we’ve got to clean up when we’re playing a team like Yelm. We’ve got to hold ourselves accountable.”