Wickstrom spells relief for BHS

Published 11:30 am Thursday, May 11, 2017

BAINBRIDGE – The Spartans stopped Eastside Catholic 6-3 in girls fastpitch softball to improve to 12-1 in the Metro League and clinch a top-two seed in the Metro League tournament.

The Spartans relied on timely hitting, aggressive base running, a couple of key defensive plays, and a strong relief pitching effort from Olivia Wikstrom for the win.

EC and Bainbridge traded single runs in the first.

An error, walk, and a single brought home the EC run. A head’s up play in the circle by Sara Colley prevented a bigger inning as she handled a hard grounder cleanly and got a force out at third base.

The Spartans responded in the bottom of the first on an infield hit by Maddie Loverich who then advanced to second on a throwing error by the Crusaders. A single by Malia Peato brought Loverich around to score.

Two runs in the third put the Spartans ahead for good.

A single by Tiana Rabang, two passed balls and a walk to Loverich put runners on the corners. A well-executed double steal brought in Rabang with a steal of home. Later in the inning Abby Sullivan doubled home Loverich.

Bainbridge added three runs in the fourth to stretch their advantage to 6-1.

A lead-off double by Wikstrom followed by an RBI single from Kensey Baker brought in the first run.

A sacrifice bunt by Rabang and a two-base error by EC sent Baker all the way around to score with Rabang ending up on third. A Loverich single closed the scoring.

Wikstrom relieved Colley to start the second and faced the minimum number of batters in five of the six innings she pitched.

In the third, after giving up a hit, Megan Spray turned a line drive to third into a double play as she caught the runner off of first.

Wikstrom did surrender two runs in the sixth when she hit a batter and surrendered a double and a single to the heart of the EC batting order.

Loverich finished with 2-for-3 batting, an RBI, a run and stolen base.

Peato went 2-for-4 and had an RBI.

Wikstrom went 2-for-3 with a double and a run. In the circle, she pitched six innings for her fourth win, with three hits, two runs and six strikeouts.

Sullivan was 2-for-3, with a double and an RBI.

Rabang was 1-for-3, with two runs and a stolen base.

If Bainbridge can sweep Holy Names this week they will earn the Mountain Division title (essentially the regular season title) in Metro League play and gain the No. 1 seed in the league tournament.

The Spartans have already earned a berth to the district tournament.