Mac softball shows offensive prowess in back-to-back wins

Two hard-fought contests went in favor of the McMinnville softball team (11-3) last week as the Grizzlies defeated 6A Southwest Conference powerhouse Roseburg (12-3) 10-4 and run-ruled Pacific Conference rival Century (6-7) 10-0 in six innings.

On Thursday, the Grizzlies came out of the gates with fire in their bats, scoring nine runs over the first three innings en route to a 10-4 home victory over the No. 5 OSAA-ranked Indians.

Taking advantage of scoring situations early in ball games has been an emphasis for the Grizzlies and head coach Josh Terry this season, but until recently the Mac offense had shown little signs of life in the early innings. Against Roseburg a switch flipped and the Grizzlies showed an ability to attack fastballs while holding back on off-speed pitches early in counts.

McMinnville began the game immediately behind the eight ball when senior starting pitcher Mackenzie Roberts allowed a home run to the first batter of the game. The Indians scored one more in the first inning, nabbing a 2-0 lead, but the Grizzlies responded quickly in the bottom of the first with two runs of their own.

Junior shortstop Dakota Mitsche was responsible for tying the game, lacing a double over the right fielder to score senior outfielders Laney Reed and Kaylee Dinger, who reached base on a walk and fielder’s choice, respectively.

Roberts silenced Roseburg’s bats in the second inning, leading the Grizzlies into the bottom half where they scored five runs and took a 7-2 lead.

Senior left fielder Natalie Fernandez singled to open the festivities and came around to score following three consecutive walks from the Indians starting pitcher. This loaded the bases for the power-hitting Dinger who all but inevitably bashed a middle-high pitch over the right-center field wall for a grand slam and her eighth home run of the season.

It was, “a missile, absolutely destroyed,” according to Terry, who bet that it one-hopped the junior varsity field fence that sits just beyond the varsity center field wall.

With the help of an error, Roseburg battled back to score two runs in the top of the third inning, but Roberts was able to limit the damage and kept the Grizzlies lead at 7-4 heading into the bottom half of the inning where Mac once again responded with two runs of their own.

Fernandez drove in the first run in the Grizzlies half to extend the lead, but for Terry and company the RBI was another clutch moment in a breakout season for the senior. In previous years Fernandez saw little playing time at the varsity level and now it appears to coaches that she is taking full advantage of the time she has left at Mac.

“These seniors, they see that it’s going to be all over soon and they take it to another level,” Terry said.

The fourth-year head coach also praised Fernandez’s abilities as a hitter, noting her patience at the plate and tendency to drive the ball up the middle of the field. “It must be tough to pitch her because she sees a lot of balls,” he said. “She doesn’t swing at too many bad pitches.”

The Grizzlies scored once more in the sixth inning and completed the victory with help from sophomore pitcher Ariel Glynn in her return to play following a back injury.

Glynn threw three and one-third scoreless innings in relief of Roberts while striking out three batters and allowing no runs, hits or walks. She also added one base hit to her resume in three at-bats.

Terry was apprehensive about giving Glynn the ball in the fourth inning, feeling unsure about how she would be able to locate and spin her off-speed pitches. Glynn, however, quickly put any doubts to rest. She retired all 10 batters she faced in a row and threw 20 of 31 pitches for strikes. Glynn also caught batters off balance as they struggled to catch up to her fastball following well-executed off-speed throws.

“There’s always a break-in period after you take time off, but after the first couple of pitches she was dialed in,” Terry said. “She’s got good velocity, a great changeup and a good two-seam. The changeup was heavy on the front side and she was able to take advantage. That makes that fastball look quite a bit faster too.”

Before Thursday’s contest, the last time Mac and Roseburg faced off was March 17, 2018, when the Indians defeated the Grizzlies 1-0 in McMinnville.

On Friday, the Mac softball team played what Terry called their most complete and cleanest game of the season against the Century Jaguars, combining for 16 hits, 10 runs and nine stolen bases off senior starting pitcher, and Fresno State University commit, Alyssa Loza.

Early in the game, the Grizzlies were playing into Loza’s strengths. Consistently batters found themselves behind in the count and were getting beat with a fastball while guessing at off-speed pitches. As the game progressed Terry spoke with his players about switching their approach back to what has worked in the past, sitting on speed rather than swinging silly at unhittable changeups.

“If the kid’s throwing big velocity you got to want it,” Terry said. “It’s got to be the mindset.”

Junior catcher Ava Fleischman benefited from in-game adjustments in her return to the field after missing time due to knee soreness. Fleischman struck out in her first at-bat but settled down and knocked down three base hits in as many plate appearances. The junior also tacked on three RBI, while looking strong behind the plate in an attempt to limit the Jaguars’ run game.

Terry was impressed with Fleischman’s return to the lineup and made a point to recognize her contributions to the victory, noting that her ability to stay consistent and drive balls up the middle of the field make her a key piece near the bottom of the lineup.

“We’re gonna win a lot of games if she’s hitting the ball that way,” Terry said.

Bolstering the offense, each with three hits to their name, was senior Vivian Moore and sophomore center fielder Taylor Terry. Moore’s presence was felt in the sixth spot in the order as she scored three runs, stole two bases, walked once and drove in one run. Terry scored two runs of her own while nabbing three stolen bases in the game.

Glynn, Mitsche, freshman Hallie Vaughan and senior Marley Howard all stole a base as well. The duo of Mitsche and Glynn combined to go 4-for-7 with three RBI and two runs scored.

Dinger also provided pop, going 2-for-4 with one RBI and a run scored.

Roberts backed up the offense in the pitching circle, throwing five innings while striking out six and allowing one hit. Glynn also worked a scoreless frame in the sixth inning before the game was called due to the run-rule.

McMinnville has now defeated Century in 11 consecutive games dating back to April 26, 2019, and will face the Jaguars again on March 6 at Century High School.

The victory was a first step for the Grizzlies in their ultimate goal of becoming 6A Pacific Conference champions for the second year in a row. Terry says that the team’s focus will determine where they land come the end of the season, but acknowledges that his players are a grounded group that is rounding into form at the right time.

Terry knows that the league schedule is not easy, perceiving teams like Glencoe (10-4), Sherwood (12-2) and Forest Grove (9-4) as top 10 teams in the conference. Nonetheless, an emphasis on playing complete, clean games is one that the Grizzlies will hope to ride into a favorable seeding come playoff time.

“It’s going to be a dogfight between all of us,” Terry said. “It’s going to be a fun season, but we have to stay focused on the task at hand, and we could not we could not have gotten all our players back and healthy at a better time.”

McMinnville dives further into league play on Tuesday with a road match at Forest Grove. The Grizzlies then play Glencoe at home on Wednesday before a road bout against Liberty on Friday. All games start at 5 p.m.