Olympic eliminated in 14-6 loss to Lynden at state tournament

The Trojans had earlier lost a 7-4 game to Ridgefield

SELAH — The season came to an end for the Olympic fastpitch team with losses to Ridgefield and Lynden at the 2A state tournament on May 25.

The Trojans went down early against Ridgefield, giving up four runs in the first inning. They found themselves trailing 7-1 in the fifth until Molly Gates drove in a pair with a line drive to the left-center field gap. Morgan Kroesser stepped up with an RBI-single and the game was suddenly 7-4.

But Olympic could not string together another rally, forcing the team into an elimination game against Lynden.

The second could not have gotten off to a better start. Kiki Mitchell and Gates singled and then Kaira Cabato walked to load the bases in the top of the first. Kroesser brought everybody home with a grand slam to give the Trojans a 4-0 lead.

But the lead was short lived as Lynden struck for eight runs in the bottom of the first. The Trojans were not as sharp as they were in game one as two errors were committed in the first inning. They had five overall.

Ashlyn Morris brought in a run on a sacrifice bunt in the second to cut the lead to 8-5, and Gates followed up with an RBI-single, but that would be all the offensive production Olympic could muster as Lynden junior Breanna Swendt held the Trojans hitless over the final five innings of the game.

Lynden 14, Olympic 6

Oly 4 2 0 0 0 0 0 — 6 6 5

Lyn 8 3 1 2 0 0 x — 14 18 1

WP: Swendt LP: Kroesser

Pitching

Olympic — Kroesser 3 IP, 5 H, 7 R, 5 ER, 2 BB, 2 K; Snyder 3 IP, 11 H, 7 R, 6 ER.

Lynden — Swendt 7 IP, 6 H, 6 R, 6 ER, 3 BB, 7 K.

Hitting

Olympic — Kroesser 1-4, HR, 4 RBI; K. Mitchell 2-4, 2 R; Gates 2-4, R, SB, RBI; Morris 0-3, RBI; A. Mitchell 1-2, BB, R;

Lynden — Paoli 2-4, 2B, 4 RBI; Doerge 2-5, HR, 2 R, RBI; Cross 2-4, 3B, R, RBI; Swendt 1-3, 2 R; Anderson 1-4, 2B, 2 R, 2 RBI; Wittenberg 3-4, 3 R, 3 RBI; Simonsen 2-4, R, 2 RBI; Saur 3-4, 2 R.

— Mark Krulish is a reporter for Kitsap News Group. He can be reached at mkrulish@soundpublishing.com.

Morgan Kroesser bowls over her teammates after a first-inning grand slam against Lynden. Unfortunately, Lynden would end up with a 14-6 victory. (Mark Krulish/Kitsap News Group)