Sterling drops playoff opener to Lady Deer
After one game, Sterling finds itself squarely behind the eight ball as they will start today’s action down 1-0 in their best of three bi-district series against Deer Park.
Sophomore Brittany Simmons highlighted a four-run first inning for the home team with a three-run blast and then proceeded to throw a four-hit shutout as the Lady Deer took Game 1 Thursday by a score of 5-0.
“We’ve had a tendency all year long to have a bad inning and tonight it was the first inning,” RSS head coach Vicky Sorensen said. “Jenny’s (Smith) pitches weren’t as crisp as they could have been but you have to give them credit, they hit the ball well. But I thought we did too. We got robbed of five or six hits and you have to give them props for playing good defense.”
Sterling only managed to get one runner in scoring position and were kept off the bases the last three innings. Smith led the Lady Ranger attack with two hits and Courtney Zink and Jade Bigler added the other two.
The Lady Deer had six hits in the game, three of which came in the bottom of the first inning.
Mariza Martinez worked the count full and hit a triple to right center to lead the inning off. Smith struck out Rae Cassell, but gave up an RBI single to Kiersten Dixon on a full count to make the score 1-0. Smith proceeded to strike out Courtney Pettit for what should have been the second out of the inning but a dropped third strike allowed Pettit to reach safely. Simmons then came up and lifted the ball over the fence to make the score 4-0.
Sterling’s bad luck offensively was magnified in the top of the second when Taylor Zink lined the ball to leftfield only to see the ball snared by a diving Dixon. Tara Bell followed with a ball that was fielded deep in the hole by Rae Cassell who threw Bell out at first.
The third inning presented the Lady Rangers with their best scoring threat. With two outs Courtney Zink reached base on a single and stole second. Mary Tyler Dobson hit what appeared to be a base hit only to get robbed by a diving Jamie Haas to end the inning.
In the fourth inning Smith led off with a single and left the game in place of courtesy runner Bianca Ybarra who was thrown out at second base by Roxy Cassell on a stolen base attempt. Bigler followed with a single up the middle but was stranded to end the inning.
Smith settled down after the first inning and held Deer Park at bay through the next three innings. In the top of the fourth the Lady Deer placed runners on second and third with two outs but Smith put the fire out by striking out Martinez to end the inning. In the fifth inning Deer Park scored their last run that turned out to be unearned.
Rae Cassell put down a bunt to lead off and reached second safely when Taylor Zink gambled and threw the ball away in an attempt when Courtney Zink was late arriving to cover first. Dixon sacrificed to move Cassell over to third and Pettit was thrown out at first on a bunt attempt for the second out of the inning. Smith then followed with a strikeout of Simmons but Kristin Jaso did not handle the pitch. Jaso attempted to look off the runner at third before making the throw to first that pulled Bigler off the bag. Bigler tagged first but Simmons was ruled safe as Dixon scored the final run of the game.
On the night Smith gave up four earned runs and struck out eight while walking one. Sterling will return to action at home today with the first pitch scheduled for 6 p.m. If necessary a third and deciding game will follow.
After one game, Sterling finds itself squarely behind the eight ball as they will start today’s action down 1-0 in their best of three bi-district series against Deer Park.
Sophomore Brittany Simmons highlighted a four-run first inning for the home team with a three-run blast and then proceeded to throw a four-hit shutout as the Lady Deer took Game 1 Thursday by a score of 5-0.
“We’ve had a tendency all year long to have a bad inning and tonight it was the first inning,” RSS head coach Vicky Sorensen said. “Jenny’s (Smith) pitches weren’t as crisp as they could have been but you have to give them credit, they hit the ball well. But I thought we did too. We got robbed of five or six hits and you have to give them props for playing good defense.”
Sterling only managed to get one runner in scoring position and were kept off the bases the last three innings. Smith led the Lady Ranger attack with two hits and Courtney Zink and Jade Bigler added the other two.
The Lady Deer had six hits in the game, three of which came in the bottom of the first inning.
Mariza Martinez worked the count full and hit a triple to right center to lead the inning off. Smith struck out Rae Cassell, but gave up an RBI single to Kiersten Dixon on a full count to make the score 1-0. Smith proceeded to strike out Courtney Pettit for what should have been the second out of the inning but a dropped third strike allowed Pettit to reach safely. Simmons then came up and lifted the ball over the fence to make the score 4-0.
Sterling’s bad luck offensively was magnified in the top of the second when Taylor Zink lined the ball to leftfield only to see the ball snared by a diving Dixon. Tara Bell followed with a ball that was fielded deep in the hole by Rae Cassell who threw Bell out at first.
The third inning presented the Lady Rangers with their best scoring threat. With two outs Courtney Zink reached base on a single and stole second. Mary Tyler Dobson hit what appeared to be a base hit only to get robbed by a diving Jamie Haas to end the inning.
In the fourth inning Smith led off with a single and left the game in place of courtesy runner Bianca Ybarra who was thrown out at second base by Roxy Cassell on a stolen base attempt. Bigler followed with a single up the middle but was stranded to end the inning.
Smith settled down after the first inning and held Deer Park at bay through the next three innings. In the top of the fourth the Lady Deer placed runners on second and third with two outs but Smith put the fire out by striking out Martinez to end the inning. In the fifth inning Deer Park scored their last run that turned out to be unearned.
Rae Cassell put down a bunt to lead off and reached second safely when Taylor Zink gambled and threw the ball away in an attempt when Courtney Zink was late arriving to cover first. Dixon sacrificed to move Cassell over to third and Pettit was thrown out at first on a bunt attempt for the second out of the inning. Smith then followed with a strikeout of Simmons but Kristin Jaso did not handle the pitch. Jaso attempted to look off the runner at third before making the throw to first that pulled Bigler off the bag. Bigler tagged first but Simmons was ruled safe as Dixon scored the final run of the game.
On the night Smith gave up four earned runs and struck out eight while walking one. Sterling will return to action at home today with the first pitch scheduled for 6 p.m. If necessary a third and deciding game will follow.
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