Mules open diamond season on sour notes

Spring sports are under way and like clockwork, the rains have returned.

The baseball season opener for the Wahkiakum Mules was pushed back a few days to Monday, when the Mules hosted a double-header with the Pe Ell Trojans. The Mules fell behind early going into the bottom of the third trailing 3-1, but a hit batter, a single, a double, and six walks later, the Mules jumped on top 7-3.

The Trojans countered with a pair of runs in the fourth and tacked on one more in the fifth, cutting the Mule lead to 7-6. The Mules were unable to hold onto the lead when the Trojans added two more runs in the sixth to go up 8-7, eventually the final score.

Despite scoring seven runs, the Mule offense struggled at the plate in the opener. The lone bright spot at the plate was Brazilian exchange student Leo (last name unavailable), who went 3 for 4 with a double and a pair of singles out of the leadoff slot.

The Mules fell short in the nightcap as well, a 10-4 six-inning victory for the visiting Trojans. Despite losing by a larger margin in game two, the Mules were quite a bit more successful at the plate. Leo recorded another pair of singles to go with a pair of stolen bases. Dault went 2 for 3 with two singles, three steals, and a run scored.

Batting cleanup, Steven Doumit went 3 for 3 with a double, two singles, two stolen bases and two runs scored. Bryce Heiner singled and scored in the second inning and Brandon Budd singled in a run and stole a base in the fifth.

Lady Mules fall to top-ranked Lady Trojans

The Lady Mules held their own against the 2011 state-runners up for the first three innings of the season, trailing only 3-1 going into the fourth.

That’s when things began to unravel for the Lady Mules. After a five-run fourth inning, the Lady Trojans erupted for a 10-run fifth to put the finishing touches on an 18-1 victory. The Lady Trojans also won the nightcap, 16-5, jumping on the Lady Mules early to build a 10-0 lead after two innings of play.

While the end result wasn’t ideal for the Lady Mules, head coach Cindy Fudge was quick to point out the positives that emerged from their season-opener, stating that “this was the first time in years they’ve played that deep into a game.”

Brieanna Olsen pitched the opener and recorded four strikeouts in the first three innings while her sister Baylee Olsen worked the nightcap and picked up six strikeouts.

Sam Boyce singled, stole second and third, and scored the lone run in Game 1 for the Lady Mules but went on to top that with a home run, a single, and two runs scored in Game 2.

Boyce also played “great defense behind the plate” according to Coach Fudge. Tori Wegdahl drove in Boyce in the first game with an RBI-single and also drew a walk. In Game 2, Coach Fudge praised second baseman Morgan Elliot on “turning our first double-play of the year,” as well as “Wegdahl’s great dives for the ball at shortstop.”

Wegdahl picked up a single and a run scored out of the three-hole in Game 2 while Haylee Budd added a single and another run batting cleanup. Jem Dyer ripped a third inning 0-2 pitch for a single and scored the Lady Mules’ first run of Game 2.