LAUREL – An elimination game is always a little nerve-racking. Scoring eight runs in the first two innings is a great way to calm nerves, and that’s exactly what the Meridian fastpitch softball team did as they defeated Sultan 12-0 in the district play-in game at Meridian High School on Tuesday.
“I think our team came into this game confident after Friday’s game,” Meridian coach Megan Monaghan said referring to the 8-7 victory over Granite Falls. “Our defense played really sound today, and our pitcher’s vibe was very calm and it resonated with the rest of our team.”
Pitching was junior Katie Prengaman, who didn’t allow a base-runner until the fourth inning, and also allowed just four hits in the five-inning shutout victory.
“My arm felt pretty good today,” Prengaman said. “We had a nice break over the weekend, so my arm was able to recuperate after last week’s games.”
The Trojan offense showed great patience at the plate, and drew nine walks in the contest, including eight in the first two innings. The aggressiveness was also there as Meridian stole nine bases in the contest, with Maddy Ritter, Hailey Horsmon, Emily Kuljis, Natalie Schultz and Prengaman each swiping two.
“We all had really good energy in this game,” said Kuljis, who had a game-high three runs batted in. “We’re all super excited to see what the rest of the season holds.”
The lone senior on the team, Kuljis, had only been a corner infielder in her entire softball career, but was able to play the last two innings at shortstop in her final home game. Looking like she had played there her whole life, when Sultan got it’s first hit of the game to right field to lead off the fourth inning, Kuljis raced to second base to receive a strike thrown from right fielder Josie Somera to tag the runner out.
By advancing, Meridian (11-10) will face Blaine (17-2) on Thursday at 4:00 at Janicki Park in Sedro-Woolley in the first round of the district tournament.
