By GARLAND KENNEDY
Sentinel Sports Editor
Multiple home runs propelled the Sitka High Lady Wolves to a 10-3 victory over Palmer’s Colony High Thursday in one of the first games of a pre-season tournament, this weekend at Moller Park. Along with their win over Colony, Sitka led off with a 10-3 victory against Palmer and then beat Kodiak 3-2 later in the day.
On Friday, Sitka kept up the pressure with a lopsided 19-2 win over Palmer, followed by an 8-4 win over Colony and a 9-3 loss to Kodiak. On Saturday the Lady Wolves wrapped up the tournament with victories over Kodiak, 6-4, and Colony, 5-0.
In Thursday’s game against Colony, Sitka junior Adrianna Denkinger hit two in-the-park home runs.
“It feels good. It’s kind of really off your chest after being up there (at bat) and getting strikes or balls and then hitting it and just like making it back home and having that feeling,” she said. “That was a good hit; it feels good.”
Macee Steinson, a senior, recalled the visceral emotion of the moment she hit her own homer.
“Hitting the ball. It’s like, ‘Oh, yeah, nice hit!’ And then stepping on home plate you’re like, ‘That was a nice hit!’”
Though Colony scored 3 runs in the top of the first inning, Sitka responded with 8 runs in the bottom of the first. With junior Kaiya Balovich on the pitcher’s mound, Colony’s batters didn’t make it very far, and the home team’s defense shut down Colony’s hitters and runners. Balovich stressed the importance of keeping errors under control.
“We’re good at shutting down the error train… Hitting is contagious and errors are contagious. You want to shut down the errors,” the pitcher said.
On the offensive side, Denkinger agreed about the contagious nature of solid hitting.
“It feels good. I mean, I get excited when I touch home plate. It’s adding points to our team, and it’s hyped,” she said. “It gets us more pumped up, and then it’s kind of contagious. I guess good hits are contagious.”
Steinson seconded that sentiment.
“Adding points, racking up the scores – that’s always a good feeling,” the senior said.
Sitka scored 2 more runs in the second and successfully shut down Colony’s offense to prevent a rally, but the brief, pre-season game, played on a 65-minute time limit, ended in the third inning. The tournament did not include formal rankings, but was instead played in a scrimmage format.
In Saturday’s tight game against Kodiak High, Sitka was trailing when freshman Sadie Saline hit a game-winning triple RBI into right field.
“I was just hoping to get at least one of the base runners home,” Saline recalled. “When I hit the ball I didn’t know where it went so I was running really hard to first. I think that we are really bonded together and that can get us to be successful.”
The Wolves won the game 6-4.
Steinson, in her last year on the Wolves’ softball squad, thinks her team looks solid so far.
“We have a really good bond and it just works. And that kind of work is a key thing to have on the field… We can work from our fielding plays, knowing where to go, overthrows; you can work on everything and become better at all of it,” Steinson said. “We’re working towards getting better everywhere (and) keep our defense strong on the field.”
Denkinger shared her teammate’s upbeat attitude for the season.
“I’m confident in our team this year.”
Looking back at the weekend’s 7-1 record this weekend, Sitka coach Jael McCarty said the team is shaping up well for the season.
“I’m happy with the way things are coming together. We’re hoping to keep the momentum heading into Ketchikan games this weekend,” McCarty said. Unlike this weekend, Sitka will only face Ketchikan in the coming tourney.
The coach said this season, the team has three goals: maintaining positive energy, limiting errors and reducing looking strikeouts.
Sitka High’s Nai’a Nelson connects with the ball during a softball game against Kodiak High, Friday at Moller Field. Sitka lost but returned Saturday to score a win against Kodiak. (Sentinel photo by James Poulson)
