By TIM ADAMS
Sports editor
Players and coaches in any sport know if you never give up and continue to play hard to the very end of the contest, good things will happen.
That’s exactly what transpired in Friday’s WesCo North softball game on Hillcrest Elementary School diamond between the host Oak Harbor Wildcats and Lake Stevens.
The Wildcats staked the Vikings to a 2-0 lead after some fielding miscues in the first and third innings, but continued to battle back and earned their second league victory of the season with a come-from-behind 7-6 win.
“A lot of good things happened today,” said coach Jessica Weikle. “Kayla Ratliff and Nikki Mowbray had another fantastic game together.”
Oak Harbor scored a pair of runs in the bottom of the third inning to tie the score but Lake Stevens forged ahead 5-2 with three runs in the top of the fourth off of relief pitcher Whitney Osborn, who experienced some control problems.
Weikle put Ratliff back on the mound and the senior did a good job for the remainder of the game striking out three Viking batters.
Despite fighting a cold and taking a foul tip off the mask in the second inning, Mowbray stroked a pair of home runs good for three RBI and also scored three runs.
Not to be outdone, Ratliff also smacked a round tripper, scored twice and had a 2-for-3 day at the plate.
Trailing 6-2 heading into the bottom of the seventh inning, the Wildcats exploded for five runs to lift their WesCo North record to 2-10 and 5-10 overall.
Kim Mowbray was 1-for-3 with a sacrifice bunt and a stolen base and played a great game in centerfield.
“Kim controlled the outfield and made five putouts, including a great catch where she slipped going back on a ball and made the catch for the out while on her knees,” Weikle said.
Kaylee Meders was 1-for-3 with a pair of stolen bases, Osborn had a double in her 1-for-3 effort and Lauren Miller was 1-for-2 with a pair of RBI.
Another of the game’s highlights was Kendra Wallace collecting her first-ever base hit as an Oak Harbor varsity player.
“We had a great game, this is the first time this season the Wildcats started the game in the hole and came out on top,” Weikle said.
