“We had fantastic hitting,” said Mariners Coach Cary McReynolds, whose team will face Vaquero City Employees in the semifinals at 5 p.m. Monday at Scholl Canyon Ballfields. “We go six deep, all of them can hit to the outfield and all of them got real nice hits. Kellyn [O’ Leary] is, I think, the best pitcher in our league and then we had Aprylle who pitched for the first time this year.
“She ended up getting the win there, so it was exciting.”
Zeke’s pitcher Christina Lockhart notched a strikeout to end the top of the sixth and keep her team within two runs. Else Protzko led off the bottom of the sixth with a walk and advanced to second on a strikeout. She then stole third, forcing a throw to the base that skipped into right field allowing her to score and draw Zeke’s within one run.
But with the bases emptied, Salvador focused on the strike zone and recorded the two remaining outs on eight pitches.
“Our team performed very well,” Zeke’s Coach Lisa Griffin said. “We went the full six innings and they kept their heads in the game and knew what to do.”
“It’s been a long season culminating in this Tri-Cities game. They brought it and sometimes it goes your way and sometimes it doesn’t.”
The Mariners took a 3-0 lead in the first inning on an RBI double by Salvador, who then scored on a wild pitch, and led, 4-0, before Zeke’s got its offense going in the bottom of the second.
Three Mariners errors allowed Samantha Kohn, Julia Bolstad and Mackenzie Holmquist to cross the plate.
The Mariners added two more runs in the third on an RBI groundout by McReynolds and a home run Salvador, but in the bottom of the frame, Zeke’s caught up with them at six on runs cored by Natalie Di Nicola, Shawna Shipers and Kohn.
Maddy Ellison put the Mariners back up by two with a single that scored Kalley Janosko in the top of the fourth. Not to be outdone, Zeke’s pulled even once again on run-scoring singles by Lockhart and Summer Soloman.
The two teams traded runs again in the fifth inning to force a sixth and final frame.
