The River Ridge softball team ran into a powerhouse in Peninsula Wednesday afternoon at the Regional Athletic Complex, as the Seahawks thumped the Hawks 16-2 in five innings.
Peninsula rattled off eight extra-base hits off River Ridge, including two home runs.
After an impressive effort by Hawks starting pitcher Raylie Birklid to prevent a leadoff triple from scoring in the first, Peninsula’s bats caught fire in the second for seven runs. Abby Hoyt cranked a three-run home run to center field, and I. Michaels came all the way around to score on her own grounder that forced an infield error by River Ridge.
Kaylani Karageorge picked up an RBI for River Ridge in the second, and Rylee Standard walked with the bases loaded in the fourth. But Peninsula put the game out of hand in the fifth with eight runs, highlighted by another three-run home run, this time by Maddison McCasland. Hoyt also punished the Hawks again with a two-run double to finish with five total.
Birklid pitched 4.2 innings and struck out five batters, and she provided two of River Ridge’s five five hits. Eva Lynch added a double and scored a run on a 1-for-3 day.
River Ridge (3-4, 3-2 Puget Sound League) gets a week off before returning on Wednesday, April 8 against Gig Harbor (5-1, 4-1 Puget Sound League) at the Regional Athletic Complex.
