It was a tale of two halves for the North Thurston softball team in its season opener at Gig Harbor Monday.
North Thurston watched an 11-0 lead in the fourth inning turn into a 15-11 Gig Harbor advantage heading into the seventh inning in a 15-13 loss.
The Rams started hot at the plate, scoring twice off bases-loaded walks before Paige Guyer drove in their third run on a single to right field. Before another bases-loaded walk to give North Thurston a 4-0 lead, Saidee Trolson cranked a bases-clearing double to center to increase the advantage to seven.
In the third, Guyer tacked on two more RBIs on a double, and an error on a ground ball by Sara Halterman made it 10-0 North Thurston through three. The Rams added one more run via a Lylah Hoy RBI single in the fourth before Gig Harbor erupted for eight runs in the fourth to climb back in the game. All eight of the Tides runs came with two outs.
Gig Harbor added one more run in the fifth to cut a margin that was once 11 down to just two. In the sixth, the Tides loaded the bases, and Guyer, in the circle, plunked a batter to score a run. Gig Harbor’s Sarah Cody provided the go-ahead, two-run single, and the Tides added three more runs for good measure to enter the seventh ahead 15-11.
The Rams scored two runs off of a two-run error by Gig Harbor in the seventh, but with the tying run at second base and the go-ahead run at the plate, North Thurston couldn’t inch any closer, striking out to end the game.
North Thurston (0-1, 0-1 Puget Sound League-Nisqually) will look to bounce back at home against Central Kitsap Wednesday.
