Final home appearance for Pirates
PORT ANGELES - The Pirates made their final home appearance Tuesday where the home fans said farewell to a program that has graced the Wally Sigmar Athletic Complex diamond for 10 years. Peninsula College earlier this spring moved to suspend the sport of softball and add women's soccer. Coach Jim Cheney, and assistants Joel Lewis and Elvin Sofie, joined the players in a ceremony between games to honor the sophomores - and the freshmen players. The games, meanwhile, were rough, as the conference-leading Shoreline women rolled to 13-1 and 9-1 victories. The Pirates were held to three hits in the opener, those by Michelle Senf and Dena Houser, as well as another home run by Marquita Espinoza in the third inning that accounted for PC's lone run. The PC bats came alive in the second game, where they belted out nine hits, but they left 11 runners on base. Houser went 2/3, Espinoza 2/4 and the other hits came from Colleen Murphy-Carey, Emily Garner, Heather Carlson, Holly Newton and Chelsea Ramblin. The Pirates (6-16, 7-20) are scheduled to travel to Skagit Valley for a make-up doubleheader on Thursday.
Beat-up Pirates split four on road
The Pirates, who have lost five players now to injury and illness, won two and lost two on the road over the weekend, but, more importantly, they got to play in warm sunny weather. In one of the coldest springs on record, the PC women have endured bad weather, illness, injuries and more, but their competitive spirit carries them - and that spirit helped them to two wins on Friday at Edmonds. Emily Garner, a terrific freshman athlete out of Kodiak, Alaska, just gets better and better every time she sets foot on a softball field, or a gymnasium for that matter. The two-sport athlete picked up two more wins on the mound, beating Edmonds 13-1 and 10-8. She got lots of run support in the opener, as her mates scored 13 runs on 11 hits and capitalized on seven Edmonds errors. Defensively, the PC women played errorless ball behind her, as she allowed just one run on a three-hit gem that included three strikeouts. Holly Newton went 2/3 with a triple, Colleen Murphy-Carey also hit 2/3 with a triple, Heather Carlson went 2/3 with a double and Michelle Senf went 1/2 with a double. In the second game, Garner went all seven innings, but this time her teammates struggled a bit behind her with six errors and only eight hits in an exciting two-run victory. Garner helped her own cause, going 3/4 with a double, a triple, three runs and three RBI, Senf went 2/3 with a a double and Murphy-Carey also doubled. On Saturday, the Pirates took on a very strong Bellevue club and came out on the short end of two eight-ru mercy rule games, 11-2 and 12-1. The Pirates scored only two in the first game and were held to four hits. Chelsea Rambin went 2/2 with the first collegiate home run of her career and Garner and Newton got the other two hits. In the second game, the PC bats were held to three hits, as Dena Houser doubled, Marquita Espinoza doubled and Newton singled. The PC women wrap up their home schedule Tuesday at 2 p.m. against shoreline.
Everett too much for PC women
PORT ANGELES - The Pirate women had a reason to be down a bit Tuesday. Their starting pitcher is out for the season, one of their only other pitchers had to leave with an injury after pitching to just two batters, several other starters are out, the weather was wet and unseasonably cold and Everett took advantage for a doubleheader sweep, but coach Jim Cheney's Pirates showed tremendous class and remained upbeat, playing hard until the second game was called. In the opener, Everett went out to a 6-0 first inning lead and held on to win 13-2. Emily Garner pitched well and batted 2/3, Colleen Murphy-Carey went 2/3 and Dena Houser hit a triple. In the second game, Everett's second batter ripped a line shot back at the mound, striking Shayna Butcher on the wrist. She had to leave the game and did not return. In an effort to rest Garner, coach Cheney pitched several infielders and Everett ran away with the game, scoring 7 in the first and 12 in the second. The Pirates, meanwhile, made a little noise of their own when lead-off batter Dena Houser took the first pitch over the left field wall for a solo home run and then, four batters later, Garner belted the first homer of her collegiate career, a two-run shot, also to left field. The Pirates added two in the second, including an RBI single by Michelle Senf, but the game was called with two outs and the bases loaded as rain continued to fall and the field became unplayable with Everett leading 19-5. The Pirates travel to Edmonds Friday and Bellevue Saturday.
Pirates split with OC
PORT ANGELES - Infielder turned pitcher Emily Garner earned her first win as a Pirate, Marquita Espinoza and Dena Houser continued to pound the ball and Heather Carlson's bat is heating up as the PC women split with Olympic, winning the opener 4-2 and dropping the nightcap 4-1 Saturday. In the first game, Garner allowed just two runs on seven hits to get the win, while Espinoza went 3/4, Carlson 2/3 and Houser 2/4. In the second game, Olympic's Jacqui Bushor held the Pirates to just three hits, those by Espinoza with a double and Carlson and Michelle Senf with singles. Shayna Butcher pitched well, giving up only seven hits.
Conference leaders too much for wounded Pirates
SHORELINE - Conference-leading Shoreline had its way with the beat-up Pirates Saturday, winning 16-5 and 15-2 in a North Region doubleheader. The Pirates, playing without several starters, once again had the error bug Saturday, committing eight miscues in the opener and five in the nightcap. The Pirates otherwise played well against the talented Dolphin club, scoring five runs on nine hits in the first game, led by Colleen Murphy-Carey, Michelle Senf and Holly Newton, who each batted 2/3, and Marquita Espinoza, who homered. The PC women were held to five hits in the second game, led by Murphy-Carey and Madigan Winters, who each hit 2/3, Espinoza, who doubled and Houser who hat the other hit. The Pirates (3-9, 4-13) travel to Skagit Valley on Friday.
Bellevue puts dent in playoff hopes
PORT ANGELES - Without No. 1 pitcher Carly Swingle, the Pirates needed to bring their A game to the park Friday against the Bellevue Bulldogs, who were one game ahead in the race for the NWAACC playoffs. Unfortunately, the defense did not come through for pitchers Shayne Buther and Emily Garner, committing six errors in the first game and five in the second, in 15-0 and 10-1 setbacks. Offensively, the PC ladies struggled against Bellevue's Ashleigh Carter, who struck out 11 and scattered five hits, those by Dena Houser, Marquita Espinoza, Colleen Murphy-Carey, Michelle Senf and Emily Garner. In the nightcap, BC jumped out in front with a 7-run first inning and again held the PC bats at bay, giving up hits to Houser, Garner and Heather Carlson. PC’s only run of the afternoon came in the third when Houser singled, stole second, moved to third on back-to-back walks and then scored on a wild pitch. The Pirates (3-7, 4-11) at Shoreline Saturday.
Pirates sweep Edmonds 9-0, 12-4
PORT ANGELES - The Pirates tightened up their defense and unleashed their bats in a doubleheader sweep over Edmonds Tuesday before a nice home crowd. Carly Swingle got the five-inning shutout in the opener, striking out 4, walking none and allowing just three hits against only 18 Triton batters. The Pirates opened the scoring with three runs in the first on a lead-off single by Dena Houser, four walks and a ground-out RBI by Swingle. They added three in the second on singles by Laura Campbell, Marquita Espinoza, Michelle Senf and Swingle, as well as two walks. They then added another three-spot on hits by Swingle and Houser in the fourth to win via the eight-run rule in the fifth. Espinoza went 2/2 with a single off the right-center field fence, Swingle was 2/3 and Houser 2/4. In the nightcap, Shayna Butcher got the win, giving up four unearned runs, six hits, walking only one and fanning one. The Pirates opened with two runs on hits by Campbell and Espinoza, a walk and a ground-out, but found themselves trailing 4-2 due, in part, to errors in the second and third. The Pirates, however, rallied for four runs in the fourth when Madigan Winters scored on a wild pitch, Campbell drove in a run and Espinoza belted a two-run homer over the center field fence. That set up a six-run fifth inning that featured hits by Senf, Cimone Trout, Houser and doubles by Winters, Espinoza and Colleen Murphy-Carey. For the game, Espinoza had one of her best games as a Pirate, going 4/4 with a double and a home run, Campbell went 3/4 and scored twice, Winters doubled and scored twice, Murphy-Carey doubled and Senf went 2/3. The Pirates (2-5, 4-9) are now idle until they host Bellevue on April 23.
Rough road trip for PC women
The Pirates dropped four games in two days on the road over the weekend, falling to Olympic 11-3 and 23-5 on Friday, and then to Everett 4-2 and 10-1 on Saturday. Against Olympic, Houser went 3/3 with a triple and Molly Fletcher doubled in the first game, while Campbell had the hot bat in the night cap, going 3/3, Houser homered and Murphy-Carey and Espinoza each hit triples. Against Everett, Houser hit another HR and Murphy-Carey homered to lead the Pirates in the opener, while Senf led the bats in the second game, going 2/2 with a double.
Extra inning split with Skagit Valley
PORT ANGELES - After dropping their NWAACC North Division opener 7-2 to Skagit Valley in an error-plagued game, the Pirates rallied to win the second game 10-9 in 10 innings. The PC bats were quite in the opener, as Laura Campbell had two hits, including a towering double that landed at the base of the left-center field fence, and Colleen Murphy-Carey's RBI double accounted for the only three hits off Cardinal hurler Kayla Ratliff. The Pirate infield, meanwhile, struggled, committing nine errors to open the door for most of Skagit's seven runs. Carly Swingle took the loss. In the second game, Shana Butcher was seemingly on her way to a win with the Pirates up 8-6 with two outs in the seventh when she got into a little trouble and gave way to Swingle, who then gave up two runs on a triple and a PC throwing error to send the game into extra innings. In the 10th inning, trailing 9-8 with Emily Garner at third, Cimone Trout at second and Karly Swingle on third, Dena Houser crushed a shot to left center for a walk-off double to win the game. Marquita Espinoza had a big game with three hits in six trips to the plate, including a two-run homer over the wall in right-center and Michelle Senf went 2/4 with a single off the top of the fence. Swingle got the win in relief. The Pirates (1-1, 2-5) travel to Olympic on Friday.
Pirates open in Arizona
PORT ANGELES - The Pirates got some bugs out and tuned up for their NWAACC North season playing five games in Arizona last week where they won one game and dropped four. They fell to NJCAA Division I defending national champion Arizona Western 13-2 and 14-0 in their 2010 debut on March 24. Dena Houser went 2/3 with a triple and Shayna Butcher, Carly Swingle and Marquita Espinoza had PC's other hits in the first game, while the Pirates were held to only one hit, that by Swingle, in Game 2. Next up on the road trip was Scottsdale Community College where the Pirates lost the opener 3-0 and then won the nightcap 7-6. In the opener, Espinoza, Swingle and Laura Campbell picked up PC's only three hits. In the second game, Espinoza went 3/4 with a home run and 5 RBI, Houser went 2/3 with a home run and four runs scored and Michelle Senf singled and knocked in a run. Shana Butcher went the distance to get the win. The Pirates wrapped up their trip south against South Mountain CC where they got knocked around 15-2. Houser went 2/3, Espinoza 1/2 and Colleen Murphy-Carey 1/1 with a run scored.
Final season for Peninsula softball
PORT ANGELES - Peninsula College announced plans to suspend its softball program at the end of the 2010 season, replacing it with women's soccer in the fall. The decision to move to soccer came following an athletic department program review. It was determined the college might be better positioned to run men's and women's soccer more efficiently and effectively than men's soccer and women's softball.
Pirates ready for 2010
The Pirates will enter the 2010 season with the goal of playing in the NWAACC Championships in May. Coach Jim Cheney and his staff have been working hard to prepare the Pirates for what promises to be an exciting season of Peninsula College softball. With six returning sophomores, led by power-hitting catcher Marquita Espinoza, hard-throwing right-hander Carly Swingle, and one of the best athletes in the league in Dena Houser making an impact on offense and defense, as well as a strong recruiting class featuring nine freshmen, the PC women are anxious to play ball. Other key sophs in the line-up include Colleen Murphy-Carey at first base, Molly Fletcher at shortstop and Laura Campbell at second. The freshmen class includes five Port Angeles grads Michelle Senf (OF), Shana Butcher (P), Madigan Winters (Ut), Chelsea Rambin (OF), and Marisa Christopher (OF); Kodiak Alaska's Cimone Trout (OF), Emily Garner (3B) and Heather Carlson (OF), and Port Townsend's Holly Newton.
See www.nwaacc.org for scores, standings and softball news.