The Rainier High School softball team has plenty of questions to answer as the Mountaineers have now lost five of their last six games after an 11-1 run-role home loss to Adna on Wednesday, April 24.
Head coach Katie Qualls’ team is struggling to string hits together as Rainier recorded just two, including a Keira Anderson solo homer, against Pirates ace Ava Simms, who struck out 10 Mountaineers.
“Ava Simms is a great pitcher. She’s probably one of the better pitchers you’re gonna see in 2B, so as long as they’re out there being aggressive, I’m good with it,” Qualls said. “We are working on some of the fundamentals and trying to practice hitting that you only see every once in a while.”
Freshman Ryleigh Cruse got the start for Rainier, and after giving up a leadoff double, she forced three straight pop outs to end the first inning. Adna’s bats woke up in the second inning, as the Pirates drove in seven runs on four hits, three walks and an infield error by Rainier. Cruse knocked in the first Mountaineers hit in the second inning, but it amounted to nothing as the next two batters struck out swinging. In fact, after Cruse’s single, Simms struck out the next six batters, all swinging.
Anderson broke Rainier out of its offensive slump with a solo shot to left field for her third home run of the season and first since March 19.
“She actually didn’t even get all of that ball. She was under that thing a little bit,” Qualls said of Anderson’s home run. “She deserves to get a home run.”
In the fifth inning, Adna took advantage of Rainier’s errors, tacking on four more runs in the frame. The Mountaineers surrendered three errors, and their outfield struggled to track down fly balls and line drives hit their way. Rainier could not extend the game in the fifth and lost, 11-1.
Qualls cited injuries and a lack of depth for the Mountaineers’ all-around struggles that have caused them to fall to 6-8 and 2-3 in Central 2B League play.
“We are dealing with some injuries that are kind of hard to replace. We’re all trying to do our best to see what that looks like moving forward. We’re this close to being like, ‘Uh oh,’ as far as injuries,” she said.
With six games remaining in the regular season and a playoff spot slipping out of reach, Qualls wants the offense to lead the way back into the race. She credited Cruse for handling a lot of reps on the mound, as the freshman ace struck out six batters and allowed 11 runs, only four earned, in four innings of work.
“She’s been tough. She’s battling every day out there. This was a great game for her, so I’m really proud of her,” Qualls said of Cruse. “But it’s gonna take a lot of offense. Our offense is really gonna have to come together to support the issues that we have.”
Rainier heads to Napavine (10-2, 3-1 C2BL) for a doubleheader on Monday, April 29 with the first game starting at 3 p.m.
