The Kayhi Lady Kings softball team defeated Juneau-Douglas: Yaada.at Kalé 5-4 in game one of the Region V tournament on Wednesday at Dudley Field. The Lady Kings and Lady Crimson Bears remained tied at 4 after seven innings of play, prompting the first extra-inning contest of Kayhi’s season. Kayhi came away with the win after eight innings.
Kayhi struck first, scoring one run in the top of the first inning on a sacrifice fly by junior Mackenzie Pahang. Sophomore Riley Welk led off the inning with a bunt single, and moved to third on a double to right field by sophomore Taylor Jackson before being brought home by Pahang.
The Lady Kings added two more runs in the third inning. After Juneau-Douglas starting pitcher Kiah Yadao retired Kayhi’s first two batters, Pahang lined a pitch up the middle for a two-out single. Senior Hannah Moody came up next, and hit a high, arcing shot over the head of the Juneau-Douglas right fielder which hit the fence in the air, scoring Pahang. Freshman Vienna Pahang entered the game as a courtesy runner for Moody — Kayhi’s starting pitcher — and advanced to third on a wild pitch before being driven in by sophomore Marley Lewis’ ground ball single past the Juneau-Douglas shortstop.
Pitching for Kayhi, Moody didn’t allow a hit until the third inning, which came on a line drive single to center field by Juneau-Douglas junior Anna Dale. A preceding walk allowed Juneau-Douglas junior Tristan Olivia put runners on first and second with two outs, but Moody ended the inning by inducing a fly out to center field.
Juneau-Douglas entered a new pitcher — sophomore Mila Hargrave — in the top of the fourth, who proceeded to retire the Lady Kings in order. Both offenses would be held in check until the bottom of the fifth, when Juneau-Douglas scored four runs to take the lead. Juneau-Douglas junior Gloria Bixby got the rally going with a leadoff double to right field.
Juneau-Douglas senior Elin Antaya followed by hitting a ground ball to Kayhi senior shortstop Shaelyn Mendoza, she threw to third in an attempt to get the lead runner, who was called safe after Jackson wasn’t able to squeeze the ball. After a stolen base by Juneau-Douglas put runners on second and third with no outs, the Lady Crimson Beard scored their first run when Oliva hit a ground ball to Mendoza which prompted Bixby to attempt to score. Mendoza’s throw home came in plenty of time, but senior catcher Paige Boehlert lost the ball while applying the tag, giving Juneau-Douglas their first run.
Dale of Juneau-Douglas then reached on an error to load the bases, and was promptly brought home by an RBI single from Hargrave. A subsequent RBI walk surrendered to junior Zoey Billings tied the score at three. After relieving Moody from her pitching duties, Mackenzie Pahang threw a pitch in the dirt which got past Boehlert and gave Juneau-Douglas a 4-3 lead.
Kayhi tied the score in the top of the seventh, stringing together two infield singles by senior Paige Boehlert and Welk to put runners on first and second with no outs. Mendoza then laid down a sacrifice bunt to move Boehlert to third, and Jackson grounded into a fielder's choice which brought Boehlert home to tie the score at 4.
After keeping Juneau-Douglas from scoring again in the bottom of the frame, Kayhi took the lead in the top of the eighth after Pahang — placed on second to start the inning due to extra inning rules — moved to third on a fielder’s choice and then scored on a sacrifice fly from Lewis to put Kayhi back on top 5-4.
Juneau-Douglas was unable to score their automatic runner at second, despite advancing her to third on a passed ball. Pahang retired the Juneau-Douglas batters in order to record the save and earn Kayhi the win.
Regarding Juneau-Douglas’ fifth inning rally, Kayhi head coach Kalea Allen said that letting teams get back into games has been a problem for her team this season.
“We’ve definitely been doing that kind of roller coaster thing all year, so it’s something we're familiar with — getting the lead and having the other team come back and vice versa,” Allen said. “We did a lot better job of flushing the errors right away and then playing solid through that next half-inning, and there was just no quit. I was talking with my assistant coach and I was saying that we were able to keep our emotions in check a lot better.”
Allen praised Pahang for her late-game pitching and her ability to keep the ball on the edge of the plate. Preventing Juneau-Douglas from squaring the ball up in extra innings kept Kayhi on top after they took the lead.
Looking ahead, Allen is comfortable no matter who her team plays on Day II. Kayhi is familiar with all the other teams in the tournament, and she explained it’s all about execution at this point in the season.
“We’ve played all these teams and we’ve beaten all these teams,” Allen said. “It’s just about coming out and playing our game from the first inning all the way through the seventh. So we’re going to rest up tonight, take care of our bodies and come out and play a great game tomorrow.”
Kayhi will face ___ in game three of the Region V tournament at 2 p.m. on Wednesday at Dudley Field.
*This article was originally published in the Ketchikan Daily News*
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