LACEY — Unflappable. Unfazed. Cool, calm and collected.
However you want to describe Syriahs Trolson in the circle, one thing is for certain: she doesn’t flinch.
It doesn’t matter if the sophomore is sending her lethal curveball and changeup past hitters or if she’s in a funk. Her expressions never change through the lows nor the highs.
Thursday’s game against River Ridge had plenty of highs for Trolson, who pitched five innings of one-run ball while striking out seven Hawks in a 14-1 Rams win.
That unflappable mentality didn’t come immediately for Trolson, but the Rams culture, which includes older sister Saihdee, helped her grow more confident in her prep career and in club ball.
“I used to struggle with my mentality a lot. The family that North Thurston has helped. There’s also a lot more stress in club ball, but you’d think there’d be more stress because I’m going against 18-year-olds when I’m 15,” Syriahs Trolson said. “It’s always going to be hard as a pitcher to have a positive mindset, but you really just have to flush everything.
“You have to have the memory of a goldfish.”
Trolson had nothing to flush early on, as she allowed a total of three baserunners in the first three innings combined, none of which reached second base. After giving up a leadoff single in the top of the second inning, she caught the next three Hawks looking at the third strike. In that second inning, she already had two runs of run support behind her, one of which she accomplished herself on an RBI single to score her sister.
The Rams stayed hot in the bottom of the second inning, ripping three straight base hits, including an RBI triple by Isabella Haagen and an RBI single by Paige Guyer. North Thurston led 6-0 after two.
Haagen, who walked on four pitches in her first at bat, decided to start swinging on her two ensuing plate appearances. The first was the RBI triple on the first pitch of the at bat in the second, and she notched an RBI single on the first pitch in the third to give the Rams a 9-0 lead.
River Ridge, playing its second game in as many days, found some life in the fourth. Jaylah Sok-Vandergriff reached on an error, and Eva Lynch singled before Lux’iolani Batacan drove Sok-Vandergriff in with a groundout. But North Thurston stopped the rally short by picking off a runner at third, and Trolson picked up a punchout for the third out.
“Nothing phases this kid,” North Thurston head coach Sam Harding said of Trolson. “She has confidence in her defense, so she feels free to pitch up there without any restrictions and without feeling like she’s got to overperform. She just plays her game. She’s getting more locked in as the season goes on.”
Trolson picked up her second RBI in the fourth inning to kick off a five-run inning for the Rams to finish off the Hawks. The inning continued due to a multitude of defensive mishaps by River Ridge, which totaled five errors on the day. The Hawks couldn’t keep up the momentum from an impressive 17-8 win over Bellarmine Wednesday.
“[North Thurston] was hitting those holes. Our defenders didn’t stick their gloves out. They just watched it go by,” Hawks head coach Danny Greene said. “It’s really frustrating because we worked our asses off and had a great day yesterday, then today it’s back down to the beginning level.”
Haagen starred in the leadoff spot, finishing 3 for 3 at the plate with three RBIs, while Abigail McBride contributed four RBIs in the nine spot. Despite only four innings of work, North Thurston finished with 13 hits.
“Everybody was aggressive at the plate. It’s fed on from our last couple games,” Harding said. “They have been patient up there and waiting for their right pitch rather than trying to make something happen. That just goes to show their maturity. Today was a major team effort. I’m excited about where we’re going.”
Trolson has pitched 41.2 innings of the 49 innings and thrown 775 of the 958 pitches for the Rams this year, exceeding 80% of the team’s totals in both categories. She’s had her bumps this season, as has the whole team, but she’s got the trust of her teammates and the memory of a goldfish to prop her up as the games grow more important this spring.
“I have pretty high endurance when it comes to pitching. Pitching is my home. The circle is where I live and where I stay,” Trolson said.
North Thurston (4-5, 3-4 Puget Sound League) will visit Rochester for a non-league contest Friday, while River Ridge (4-7. 4-5 Puget Sound League) hosts Silas Monday afternoon.
