MONROE — The rain came pouring down at Sky River Park in Monroe Wednesday evening.
Then the runs for Snohomish came pouring in.
The Panthers scored seven runs in the sixth inning — five after a 10-minute rain delay — and had 18 hits as Snohomish defeated Monroe 13-0 in a Wesco North softball contest.
“It was a good offensive performance,” said Snohomish head coach Lou Kennedy. “I thought, coming into this game, we hadn’t had one of those big offensive outbursts.”
Mission accomplished.
Every Snohomish player had a hit and freshman Morgan Greenlee had two of them, including a solo home run to lead off the top of the fourth inning and a two-run single in the Panthers’ big sixth-inning rally that broke the game open.
The catcher finished the game with four RBI.
“That’s pretty dang good for a freshman,” Kennedy said. “She’s got just a really solid swing.”
Greenlee almost didn’t get a chance to hit in the sixth. With two runners on base and a 3-0 count to Jennie Winston, the skies opened up and a downpour arrived. The umpires halted play and fans at Sky River Park, which has no shelter to stand under, huddled under umbrellas and ran to their vehicles.
Both teams took cover in their dugouts, where Kennedy said his team remained focused and eager to get back out on the field.
“It’s hard to get back on top of your game (after a delay),” Kennedy said. “It can really kill (the game). Especially when you have a lot of momentum going. Fortunately, it wasn’t very long.”
According to Kennedy, since the game was in the sixth inning it could have been postponed and finished before the next meeting between the two teams. If a game hasn’t completed five innings and is called due to weather, the teams would have to start over, which Kennedy says “would’ve been really sad.”
Once play resumed, Winston drew a walk and Bailey Seek hit the first of four straight singles, all of which drove in runs for the Panthers (1-1 league, 5-2 overall).
Anna Pisac hit a two-run home run in the top of the fifth inning to give the Panthers a 6-0 lead. She finished the day 2-for-3 with three RBI and two runs scored.
Seek batted 2-for-3 with an RBI and was the game’s winning pitcher, improving her record to 5-1. After a no-hitter and three straight shutouts to start the season, Seek had a little bit of trouble during her past couple games, before finding her groove Wednesday. Seek (5-1), a sophomore, pitched all six innings, allowing three hits.
“She worked really hard this week on her pitching and it showed,” Kennedy said. “This was as good as I’ve ever seen her.”
Kennedy said that one of the dangers of rain delays is “pitchers can lose their grooves.” That’s what appeared to happen to Monroe starter Alyssa Egan after the break. Egan faced five more batters, all of which reached base, before being relieved by Devan Larsen.
“I look at the teams in our league, and Arlington is really strong,” Kennedy said, noting he expected the game to be much closer than the final score. “Monroe and us are even. We’re both young. They just struggled a bit today.”
Monroe’s (1-1, 4-2) best opportunity came in the bottom of the fourth inning. Egan hit a double, which was followed by an infield single by Rachael Delamare. With one out, the two runners advanced to second and third base on a pass ball. But Seek settled down and got two flyouts to end the threat.
An infield single by Nicole Shavlik, the Bearcats’ first batter of the game, was the only other hit for Monroe.
At Sky River Park
Snohomish101037—13181
Monroe000000—031
Bailey Seek and Morgan Greenlee. Alyssa Egan, Devan Larsen (6) and Rachael Delamare. WP–Seek (5-1). LP–Egan (4-2). 2B–Lan Nguyen (S), Jennie Winston (S), Egan (M). HR–Greenlee (S), Anna Pisac (S). Records–Snohomish 1-1 league, 5-2 overall. Monroe 1-1, 4-2.
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