PREP SOFTBALL ROUNDUP: Archbishop Murphy’s Manuel pitches three hitter, bats 3-for-3

Published 11:33 pm Friday, April 23, 2010

EVERETT — Amber Manuel stole the show Friday night for the Archbishop Murphy softball team. Not only did Manuel shoot down the Falcons in the pitching circle, but she was nearly perfect at the plate on the way to a 2-1 Cascade Conference victory in front of the Wildcat faithful.

Manuel tossed a two-hit shutout with no walks until the top of the seventh inning when South Whidbey’s Melanie Murphy smashed a solo home run to bring the potential game-tying run to the plate. But Manuel retired the remaining Falcons and secured a win that keeps the Wildcats in a tie for second in the Cascade Conference with Cedarcrest, which also won Friday.

After a dreadful game for the Wildcats Monday in which Manuel walked seven on the way to a 11-0 loss to Granite Falls, she has surrendered zero free passes in the past two Murphy wins.

“When she got some injuries it kinda threw her game off a bit,” Murphy coach Stephanie Arland said, adding that the two days off before Thursday’s game helped her primary pitcher. “She’s been able to relax and get her body where it needs to be.”

Manuel batted 3-for-3, including a pair of doubles, and drove in both Murphy runs.

In the bottom of the third, after a leadoff walk and a sacrifice bunt, Marea Homes had one her two hits on the day, advancing the the runner to third with a single. Homes stole second and Manuel blasted a ground-rule double that scored the two runs.

Manuel doubled again in the fifth, but two baserunning errors cancelled out two Murphy singles and Falcon pitcher Katy Piehler escaped unscathed. Piehler surrendered just six hits in the losing effort.

The Wildcats are eager to put the Monday loss behind them and maintain their position in the conference standings as they finish their second of three times through the Cascade Conference.

“We are better than what we showed on Monday,” Arland said.

At Archbishop Murphy H.S.

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Piehler and Parra. Manuel and Homes. WP—Manuel (7-5). LP—Piehler. 2B—Kubeska (S), Melseth (A), Manuel (A) 2. HR—Murphy (S). Records—South Whidbey 6-5 league, 6-6 overall. Archbishop Murphy 7-4, 8-5.

Cedarcrest 14, Coupeville 2 (5 innings): At Coupeville, Sam Boelter batted 2-for-4 with two RBI for Cedarcrest in a Cascade Conference win. Coupeville’s Julie Huddleston had a double in the loss.

At Coupeville H.S.

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Kissinger and Kjorsvik. M. Smith, Trumbull (4) and Walstad. WP—Kissinger. LP—M. Smith. 2B—Boelter (Ce), Giolof (Ce), Huddleston (Co). Records—Cedarcrest 7-4 league, 7-4 overall. Coupeville 0-10, 1-10.

Granite Falls 9, Sultan 2: At Granite Falls, Sarah Hensley batted 3-for-4 with three RBI and was a double short of hitting for the cycle to lead Granite falls past Sultan in Cascade Conference play. Catcher Peyton Spencer also batted 2-for-4 with a double and three RBI.

At Granite Falls H.S.

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Hopkins and MacDicken. Amundson and Spencer. WP—Amundson (3-0). LP—Hopkins. 2B—Spencer (G), Arndt (G). 3B—Hensley (G), Walbon (G). HR—Hensley (G), Munce (G). Records—Sultan 3-8 league, 3-9 overall. Granite Falls 11-0, 12-0.

Cascade 5, Oak Harbor 1: At Everett, Rae Dorcas batted 2-for-2 with three RBI and Samantha Munger hit a triple to boost Cascade in the Wesco North win.

At Cascade H.S.

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Osborn and Steele. Melby and Pilkenton. WP—Melby (2-1). LP—Osborn. 2B—Dorcas (C). 3B—Munger (C). Records—Oak Harbor 0-8 league, 1-8 overall. Cascade 3-5, 6-6.

Marysville-Pilchuck 12, Snohomish 1: At Snohomish, Morgan Martinis batted 2-for-3 with an RBI and Riley Fritz batted 2-for-4 with two RBI to lead Marysville-Pilchuck to a Wesco North win. Jen Rosie tossed a complete game for the Tomahawks.

At Snohomish H.S.

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Rosie and Christiansen. Goodwin, Kasch (4) and West. WP—Rosie. LP—Goodwin. Records—Marysville-Pilchuck 9-0 league, 10-2 overall. Snohomish 2-6, 3-9.

Monroe 8, Everett 2: At Monroe, Monroe’s Emily Guluarte batted 3-for-4 with a triple and two RBI in the Wesco North win. Lexie Levin batted 3-for-4 with two doubles for Everett.

At Park Place Field

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Levin and Hudson. Egan and Keffeler. WP—Levin. LP—Egan (5-3). 2B—C. Kesterson (E), Levin (E) 2. 3B—Guluarte (M). Records—Everett 6-3 league, 9-4 overall. Monroe 4-5, 6-7.

Stanwood 7, Lake Stevens 1: At Lake Stevens, Brittany Jeans tossed a complete game, striking out 13 for Stanwood in a Wesco North win. Tori Kriegel and Sam Bingham hit solo home runs for Stanwood. Tayler Blumenfeld batted 2-for-4 and Bridget Kyle batted 2-for-4 for Lake Stevens. In addition to her 13 strikeouts, Stanwood’s Jeans batted 2-for-3 with an RBI.

At Lake Stevens H.S.

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Jeans and Bingham. Blaine, Kelly and Kelly, Miksch. WP—Jeans. LP—Blaine. 2B—Hochstetler (S), Gladsjo (S). HR—Kriegel (S), Bingham (S). Records—Stanwood 6-2 league, 9-2 overall. Lake Stevens 2-7, 3-10.

Kamiak 23, Mariner 1 (5 innings): At Everett, Angie McFall batted 4-for-4, Carly Grant batted 3-for-6 with a home run, Megan Mullanix batted 3-for-6 with a home run and Hannah Pinnock batted 4-for-6 with a home run to lead Kamiak to the Wesco South win.

At Mariner H.S.

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Montgomery and Grant. Triplett and Case. WP—Montgomery. LP—Triplett (0-8). 2B—McFall (K), Mullanix (K), Grant (K). 3B—Case (M). HR—Grant (K), Mullanix (K), Pinnock (K). Records—Kamiak 3-6 league, 3-8 overall. Mariner 0-10, 1-11.

Friday Harbor 12-15. Darrington 5-0: At Darrington, Heather Starr batted 2-for-3 with four RBI in the first game of a doubleheader as Friday Harbor swept Darrington in a Northwest 1A/2B series. Hailey Wales batted 4-for-4 with an RBI for Darrington in the first game and followed that up with a 1-for-2 performance in the second game. Friday Harbor outscored Darrington 27-5 in the series sweep.

At Darrington H.S.

Game 1

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Goff and Radden. R. Wales and Peterson. WP—Goff. LP—R. Wales. 2B—Starr (FH).

Game 2

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Melborne, MeKeer (4) and Radden. R. Wales, Baker (5) and Peterson. WP—Melborne. LP—R. Wales. 2B—H. Wales (D).