EVERETT — It was a day that was supposed to sort out some of the top teams in the Cascade Conference softball standings.
But after two extra-inning games played mostly in a drizzling rain and a biting wind, not much was settled between Lakewood and Archbishop Murphy.
In the opener of a Friday afternoon doubleheader, Lakewood got two runs in the top of the seventh to tie the score and eventually send the game to extra innings. The Cougars pushed across the go-ahead run in the top of the ninth and then denied Archbishop Murphy, which had the tying run at third base, in the bottom of the ninth for a thrilling 6-5 victory.
In the second game, the Wildcats were the ones to prevail in another extra-inning nail-biter, also by a 6-5 score. After seeing Lakewood again score twice in the top of the seventh, this time to take a one-run lead, Archbishop Murphy tied the score with one in the bottom of the seventh and then got the winning run in the eighth on a walk-off RBI double by Jess Daher.
It was entertaining softball, but did it settle anything between the two squads?
“I don’t think so,” said Archbishop Murphy coach Stephanie Harmon with a laugh. “We’ll settle it in May (at the district tournament).”
Both teams got standout performances from their starting pitchers. Lakewood’s Hailey Malakowski and Archbishop Murphy’s Baylee Robertson pitched all of the two games, and they both threw well despite weather conditions that were difficult to say the least.
Malakowski showed her grit in the second game. After taking a sharp line drive off the leg, she limped around for a few minutes, threw some pitches to assess her injury, and then announced she was fit to continue.
“We’ve got an ace and she threw a lot today,” said Lakewood coach Travis Boortz. “We were hoping she could go two games (for a total of 14 innings), but she went 17 innings. And then throwing with a hurt leg, I’m very proud of her effort.”
Likewise, Robertson did “an awesome job,” Harmon said. “Just tremendous. You can’t ask somebody to do two games (in one day) very often, but we did today and she did a great job.”
The opening game was tied after eight innings, so play continued in the ninth under international tiebreaker rules, with both teams beginning their at-bats with a runner at second base. Lakewood’s Peyton Cook started the inning at second, moved to third on an infield out and scored on a sacrifice fly by teammate Terah Barrio.
In the bottom of the ninth, Archbishop Murphy moved its runner to third base with one out, but she was left stranded there as Malakowski struck out the final two Wildcat hitters.
In the nightcap, Lakewood took the lead with another two-run seventh and was three outs away from sweeping the twinbill. But Archbishop Murphy’s Alyson Matriotti got her third extra-base hit of the game with a leadoff double in the bottom of the seventh and eventually scored the tying run on an infield out.
In the eighth, and with darkness settling over the field, the Wildcats got leadoff hitter Makenzie Treece aboard on an infield error. One out later she took second on an infield out and then Daher followed with a long fly that glanced off an outfielder’s glove and fell for the game-winning hit.
“For the most part we played great,” Harmon said. “We had a few errors and we have to cut down on those…but otherwise the girls played their hearts out. They kept with it for
nine innings in the first game and eight innings in the next, and I can’t ask for anything better.”
Both games “could’ve gone either way,” Boortz said. “I’m really proud of the way we came back (with rallies) in the seventh inning just to keep playing. It showed a lot of fight from our players.”
At Archbishop Murphy H.S.
Game 1
Lakewood 201 000 201 — 6 10 1
Archbishop Murphy 110 003 000 — 5 7 2
Hailey Malakowski and Kylie Lopez; Baylee Robertson and Alyson Matriotti. WP—Malakowski. LP—Robertson. 2B—Peyton Cook (L), Paige Cook (L).
Game 2
Lakewood 001 011 20 — 5 7 2
Archbishop Murphy 100 300 11 — 6 8 4
Hailey Malakowski and Kylie Lopez; Baylee Robertson and Alyson Matriotti. WP—Robertson. LP—Malakowski. 2B—Kylie Lopez (L) 2, Alyson Matriotti (AM) 2, J. Daher (AM). 3B—Alyson Matriotti (AM). Records—Lakewood 5-2 league, 7-2 overall. Archbishop Murphy 5-2, 6-3.
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