Three runs in the top of the fifth – all with two outs and all by Keira Anderson and Ryleigh Cruse – the Rainier High School softball team secured a 10-7 non-league win over Napavine on Tuesday afternoon on the road.
After Elaina Henry reached on an error, Cruse ripped an RBI single that broke a 5-5 tie to give Rainier (2-2) the lead. In the next at-bat, Anderson hit an inside-the-park two-run home run to give it an 8-5 cushion and it wouldn’t trail the rest of the night.
Napavine cut into the deficit in the sixth with Hayden Kaut driving in two runs on a base hit, but Rainier got those runs back in the seventh on a Cruse and Gracie Lantz RBI singles. Anderson and Cruse combined to go 8-for-9 at the plate with seven RBIs and five runs scored.
The Tigers (2-1) erased a 3-0 deficit with a four-run third. Kaut and Clara Fay each stole home and Dakota Lyons recorded a go-ahead run-scoring single. Kaut ended with three hits and four RBIs while Hannah Fay had two hits plus five strikeouts in the circle.
“Too many walks and too many errors against a good team,” Napavine head coach Josh Fay said. “We need to work on our approach at the plate.”
Napavine will take on Toledo on Thursday while Rainier battles Onalaska on Saturday. Both matchups are slated as non-league games.
