Owyhee has been borderline unstoppable this season.
Save for a 6-5 loss to Bishop Kelly in the second game of the season, the Storm have torn through the rest of their schedule. Their dominant softball play continued Wednesday night with an 18-1 win over Mountain View.
In each of their nine wins this season, Owyhee (9-1, 3-0 SIC) has scored at least 10 runs, outscoring their opponents 137-12, an average of 15 runs per game. With the deep lineup they have, once the ball gets rolling, it’s almost impossible to slow them down.
“It’s a good problem to have because everyone on the team can hit home runs, they can get base hits,” Owyhee head coach Tess Martin said about their deep lineup. “We’re deep in the circle. We have pitchers that can come in and relieve or start so we have a lot of flexibility there and even behind the plate. It makes it hard to make a lineup.”
That was evident against the Mavericks, even after a slow start. The game was tied 1-1 going into the top of the third inning. That’s when the Storm broke out for 11 runs. The first seven batters in the inning recorded hits. Mountain View didn’t record an out until the ninth batter of the inning came to the plate.
To make it more impressive, most of the runs they scored didn’t come via extra base hits. Six of the 10 hits in the inning were singles. From the 20 hits Owyhee had in the game, only five went for extra bases.
“Whether you’re doing good or bad things, it compounds,” Martin said. “As long as we can keep it going in a good direction and keep the momentum on our side then we’re in a good spot.”
In the third inning alone, Haiylee Reeves had two singles and three RBI. Mantha Hatzenbeller and Elysa Gaytan also had two hits in the frame.
“We kind of had a slow start because we didn’t have many hits,” Owyhee senior Kina Watts said. “Once we got our first run and our first hit, the ball started rolling. Once one person hits, everyone feeds off of it.”
Watts had the lone run for the Storm through the first two innings — a solo home run to right field for the right-handed batter. It was her second home run of the season and one of three RBI she had on the night.
“I needed it. I’ve been hitting fine, but it was great to get it,” Watts said. “We had a slow start, so the fact that I hit it was nice.”
Molly Buckingham and Rylie Haith joined Watts in recording three hits against the Mavericks. Reeves had a team-high four RBI. Haith and Watts had three RBI apiece. Eleven of the 12 batters that had a plate appearance recorded an RBI.
In the pitching circle, Grace Brooks and Hailey Brennan combined for six strikeouts, holding Mountain View to one run on three hits.
The Mavericks (10-2, 1-2 SIC) got off to a hot start, winning their first 10 games, but have since dropped back-to-back contests, losing to Middleton last Tuesday.
With as many runs as the Storm have scored this season — 142 to be exact — the numbers they’re putting up at the plate are staggering. Six players are averaging north of .500 at the plate, led by Buckingham at .618. McKenna Schab leads the group with 23 RBI, followed by Reeves with 19 and Buckingham, Haith and Brooks with 16 apiece. Schab also leads with six home runs.
On the pitching side, their staff has allowed 13 earned runs. Brooks has a 1.62 ERA in 17⅓ innings pitched. Brennan has been the main reliever, striking out 32 batters in 16 innings pitched with a 0.88 ERA.
It’s been pure dominance by the reigning state champions. The preseason favorites to win a 5A state title have been everything and more in their title defense season with yet another tight-knit group.
“A lot of us are friends outside of softball too,” Watts said. “We love each other. When someone does something great, we’re all there for each other to celebrate. I think it’s great because we really emphasize the success of each other. Our friendship throughout the team is a big part of it.”
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