Royals Softball bats their way through
By Davie Wong, Sports Editor
It’s been a big weekend for the Douglas College Royals softball team. After a massive first two weeks, the Royals found themselves riding a hot streak of four games going into their series against Shoreline Community College. Fine play from pitchers Keeley Ainge and Kira Staley have seen opponents swing away their chances, while the Royals batters have put the hurt on their North division rivals’ fielding and pitching numbers.
On Saturday, the Shoreline CC squad came to visit the Royals at their home field at Softball City. With a divisional record of 1–3, the SHCC team were never favourites for the matchup. But it didn’t mean that the Royals could underestimate them. Waiting for the Shoreline batting rotation was one of the best pitchers in the league, Keeley Ainge. With her was one of the best fielding teams in NWAC. And SHCC would feel that.
Although Ainge would go on to give up 11 hits on the game, the Royals would pick up 16 fielding putouts. They were flawless in the field, going the entire game without a single error. The team’s excellent fielding would keep Shoreline CC to just two earned runs in six innings.
Offensively, the Royals had themselves a game. The team pumped the Shoreline pitcher’s ERA for 9 earned runs, with a total of 10 runs in the game. Laura Baldry hit her first home run of the year and had two RBI on the game. Daniella Vilio had three hits and one run with one RBI on the day. But it was Natasha Beddard with the big day on the plate. She was the breadwinner for the Royals, driving in four runners with her three hits on the day. Daniella Vilio and Jewel Gingras also had base steals in the game. At the end of six innings, the Royals had squeezed out the mercy win, 10–2.
Game two of the series brought about a different look to it. Shoreline CC went up two runs early into the game, picking up the lead in the top of the second inning. Kira Staley would pitch four innings before being subbed out for Jesse Goddard. Staley picked up two strikeouts but gave up three earned runs and six hits.
Goddard would come in to right the ship. She pitched for two innings, picking up three strikeouts while giving up one earned run and one hit. She would also pick up the save for the match.
Offensively, the Royals were a skulk of foxes. The team picked up a grand total of five stolen bases. Jordan Britten-Yung, Daniella Vilio, and Jewel Gingras all had one stolen base, while Rachel Warburton proved to be the kleptomaniac, stealing a team high two bases.
On the swinging end of things, the Royals really went at it. They picked up a massive 17 hits on the game on their way to 12 runs. Daniella Vilio, Rachel Warburton, Michaela Moore, and Kim Anderson each had three hits in the game. Anderson batted in three runners while Warburton and Vilio got two each. In total, the Royals brought in 12 runners on 5 fielding errors from Shoreline CC. They would go on to win the game in six innings, forcing the mercy win 12–4.
The two wins bring the team to 6–0 on the year and put them in second behind Edmonds while being way ahead of the rest of the division. The closest team in terms of win percentage is the 2–1 Pierce College. In terms of wins, Bellevue are right behind the Royals with five, but have five losses on the year as well.
