Emerald Ridge put another one in the bag on Friday to keep their perfect season alive. They were the clear victor by an 11-4 margin over the Puyallup Vikings. This was payback for Emerald Ridge, who suffered a 7-2 defeat the last time these two teams met.
Alanna Wirtala made a splash while hitting and pitching. She struck out eight batters over seven innings while giving up three earned (and one unearned) runs off nine hits (and only one walk). Wirtala was also solid in the batter's box, going 2-for-4 with two doubles and two RBI.
In other batting news, the team relied heavily on Jayda Guadron, who scored two runs and stole a base while going 4-for-4. Another player making a difference was Kailey Verhoeven, who went 1-for-3 with two runs, a triple, and an RBI.
On Puyallup's side, they saw eight different players step up and record at least one hit. One of them was Kyra Smith, who went 3-for-4 with two RBI.
Emerald Ridge's victory was their tenth straight on the road dating back to last season, which pushed their record up to 4-0. Those victories were due in large part to their hitting performance across that stretch, as they averaged 10.7 runs per game. As for Puyallup, they are on a three-game losing streak that has dropped them down to 4-3.
Emerald Ridge will be playing at home against Bellarmine Prep at 4:00 p.m. on Monday. Emerald Ridge's pitching crew has only allowed 2.8 runs per game this season, so Bellarmine Prep's hitters will have their work cut out for them. As for Puyallup, they will head out on the road to face off against Montesano at 5:00 p.m. on Saturday. Puyallup is strutting in with some hitting muscle, as they've averaged 10.2 runs per game this season.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps