Prep softball: Arlington beats Beamer to advance to 4A semis

Published 9:47 pm Friday, May 24, 2013

SPOKANE — Consider it a cherry on top.

Arlington’s Hayden Fields hit a grand slam to end the Eagles quarterfinal win over Todd Beamer with a 12-0 victory and spot in today’s 4A state semifinals at Merkel Sports Complex on Friday. It was Fields second home run and Arlington’s third of the game.

“(Hayden) is more of a doubles hitter,” said Eng when asked if Fields’ recent power display was typical of her overall season. “No one realizes how strong she is, and she is starting to peak at the right time.”

Fields’ first home run in the quarterfinal was a line drive to right-center field and the grand slam “must have went cleared the center-field fence by 20, 25 feet,” according to Eng. Fields batted 3-for-4 and added six RBI to go along with her two homers in the teams quarterfinal game.

Arlington didn’t need much power in their opening-round game against South Kitsap as starting pitcher Ronnie Ladines struck out 14 and allowed just one hit in 4-0 victory. Ladines did it again against Todd Beamer as she struck out an additional nine batters and allowed just two hits.

“Ronnie had full command of all of her pitches, especially her change up,” Eng said. “She kept her pitch count down. She threw 87 pitches in the first game and 70 in the second. Overall she was fantastic.”

The Eagles advance to face Richland in the state semifinals today at 9 a.m. Eng admitted to not knowing much about his opponent from the Tri-Cities, but he acknowleged that his squad is focused going into the last day of the season.

“Basically (my team) needs no motivation,” said Eng. “This is what we’ve been working towards all season. We play one game at a time. They know it’s single elimination and that’s the only thing you need to know if you want to be a state champion.”

At Merkel Sports Complex

South Kitsap0000000—011

Arlington 101110x—461

Ashley Chamberlin and D. Camacho. Ronnie Ladines and Lyndsay Amundson. WP—Landines. LP—Chamberlin. 2B— Hayden Fields (A). Records—Arlington 20-3 overall. South Kitsap not reported.

At Merkel Sports Complex

Todd Beamer000000x—021

Arlington122115x—12151

Maddie Rodgers and H. Colson. Ronnie Ladines and Lyndsey Amundson. WP—Ladines. LP—Rodgers. 2B—Hayley Fields (A). HR—Ladines (A), Hayden Fields (A) 2, Records—Arlington 21-3 overall. Todd Beamer not reported.