By Caleb Knudsen
Things looked mighty hopeful there for a few minutes at the end of the April 12 softball game against Windsor. The Jaguars came to visit on a weekend to make up for a rained-out game, bringing a strong 9-4 record to Healdsburg and a 4-1 league record that puts them on top of the North Bay – Oak division, a bigger, tougher division than the Redwood the Greyhounds compete in.
The game remained quietly even until the fourth inning, when Windsor unleashed its attack and scored 5 runs, sparked by Kalyse Wachter’s double and triple for 2 RBIs. And when the seventh inning began Windsor had a comfortable 8-2 lead, and looked ready to chalk up another win.
But then it was the Greyhounds turn to wake up, and they scored 5 runs in the bottom of the inning, sparked by Hannah Jenkins’ key 2-run triple. Healdsburg had the bases loaded with two outs—all it would take was a walk to tie, a single to win.
Wachter, however, was called in to get that last out, and she succeeded in getting a strikeout to end the game.
Izzy Osborn had a two-hit day, with a double and an RBI. Pitcher Mia Halvorsen also doubled, as did Claire Berry. But the loss dropped the Greyhound girls to 7-5 on the season, 2-3 in the league.
The defeat was bitter, not only because the Greyhounds had rallied so strongly in the bottom of the last but because they had come off a 17-3 walloping of league rival Elsie Allen the evening before.
Freshman pitcher Halvorsen actually got some time to watch the game, being relieved by Tehya Mitchell who pitched the final two innings. Mitchell gave up 3 runs and walked five in her brief stint, but with a 17-run lead nobody seemed too stressed.
This coming week they play three games, all at the high school but only one of them a Redwood matchup. They faced Piedmont (East Bay) on April 15 (winning 13-12 on a dramatic wild pitch that scored two runs in the bottom of the seventh), and will meet St. Vincent on Thursday (5:30pm) and Novato on Friday (6:30pm).
