Roberts Ks 9 as Grizzlies take down Lake Oswego 7-3

The McMinnville softball team (8-3) picked up a non-league victory against Lake Oswego (7-4) on the road last Friday, defeating the Lakers 7-3. Senior Mackenzie Roberts led the charge from the pitching circle, striking out nine and allowing two earned runs and five hits over seven innings of work.

Roberts had started the Grizzly’s previous two games with mixed results, including five innings pitched in the team’s loss to Jesuit, but bounced back to give MAC their eighth win of the young season.

Head coach Josh Terry said that Roberts has had to carry a majority of the pitching load with sophomore Ariel Glynn unavailable. This has allowed Roberts to see more innings in the circle and Terry has been impressed with her performances over the last few games.

“(Mackenzie) is probably one of the most accurate pitchers that we’ve had come through here,” he said. “She moves the ball north, south, east, west. She does a good job and she’s tough to hit.”

Velocity and command have been staples of Roberts’ game this season. In the Grizzly’s loss to Jesuit she threw 59% of her pitches for strikes, and against the Lakers threw 69 of 112 pitches for strikes, or 77%. Terry also has recognized an uptick in velocity, one that he says has made Roberts a tougher matchup against batters.

On the offensive side, Roberts was aided by nine hits and seven runs, including a late-inning home run from senior Kaylee Dinger, her fourth in April.

The scoring began in the top of the second inning when the left-handed hitting sophomore Taylor Terry punched a base hit into left field with the bases loaded. The knock drove in sophomore first baseman Rylan Carton and senior catcher Vivian Moore, giving the Grizzlies a 2-0 lead that they held until the final out of the game.

Carton provided some pop of her own when leading off the fourth inning. She jumped at the first pitch from junior Laker pitcher Ava Beach, hitting the ball on a rope to the right field corner and sliding into third with a no-doubt triple. Two batters later, a grounder off the bat of Moore bounced off the glove of the Laker third baseman, allowing Carton to score the Grizzly’s third run.

For Terry, Carton’s work ethic as a sophomore has been one of her most impressive traits. She has filled in when needed and given the team a strong bat in the middle of the order.

“I’d like to see her get to a few more balls and take more command out there on the field, but she’s doing a really nice job,” Terry said. “She’s in (the batting cage) year-round, five, six days a week, so she’s constantly improving and she’s gonna be a big part of this season for us, especially at the plate.”

Carton’s stature and presence on the field were also front of mind when Terry spoke about Friday’s game, even more so after her hard-hit triple.

“She’s probably the most imposing kid on our team,” Terry said. “And she can hit the ball a long way.”

Runs continued to flow in the sixth inning when junior shortstop Dakota Mitsche stepped to the plate and caused chaos on the base paths.

Mitsche reached base on a scoring error, then proceeded to steal second base and advance to third on a wild pitch with Moore at the plate. The catcher wasted no time, singling into left field and extending the Grizzly’s lead to 4-0.

Moore later scored her team’s fifth run when senior Laney Reed legged out an infield single for her first and only hit of the game.

Carton and Moore combined to score four of the Grizzly’s seven runs. Each scored twice, while Moore went 1 for 3 with two RBI and Carton 2-for-3 in her appearances at the plate.

A messy bottom of the sixth allowed Lake Oswego to narrow the deficit to 5-3. Senior Sarah Sprinkle was responsible for driving in the latter of the Laker’s two runs with a hard-hit single into center field.

Though the Grizzly’s were able to score more runs and secure a win, Terry was not pleased with the execution shown by his players in the sixth inning.

“Our goal on defense is if we score some runs, we don’t wanna walk that first batter when we get back on defense,” he said. “McKenzie threw well in that last inning. The defense played well, but we’ve got to get over these innings where we have these little micro blowups. There’ve been too many unearned runs this season, and that inning definitely wasn’t great defensively for us.”

In the seventh, the Grizzlies responded, first with Dinger’s solo shot that disappeared into the brisk evening air, and last with a Mitsche sacrifice fly to score the freshman pinch runner Hallie Vaughn from third base.

Friday’s victory brought a grin to Terry’s face as underclassmen found ways to contribute and players who were out due to injury or illness returned to the field.

Sophomore Taylor Terry found her way back and started at second base, while going 2-for-3 at the plate with two RBI. Vaughn and sophomore Sam Hinojosa also saw game action as pinch runners in the seventh inning.

The Grizzlies return to action at home this week as they face Westview (5-4) at 5 p.m. on Tuesday before hosting Roseburg (9-2) at 4 p.m. on Thursday to round out non-league competition. On Friday they begin league play with a 5 p.m. start against Century (5-6).