Trailblazers lose three of four, drops back to .500
By The Chronicle staff
The Centralia College softball team skid has been extended after getting swept by Chemeketa 9-6 and 6-5 on Friday before settling for a split versus Umpqua, taking the opener 15-3 and losing the nightcap 9-8 on Saturday.
Since starting the month 5-3, the Blazers have lost six of their last eight games. In that stretch, their pitching has faltered, having allowed at least nine runs four times. They led 2-0 in the first game versus the Storm, but a five-spot in the bottom of the third and three more in the fourth broke the game open.
Centralia alum Makayla Chavez was a bright spot with four hits, including a home run, while Ava Hernandez and Macey Fluetsch each had three hits. Fleutsch also went deep and drove in two runs.
Game 2 versus Chemeketa was a back-and-forth thriller that featured ties after the first and sixth innings. CC (17-17, 9-15 NWAC) jumped in front in the seventh with a solo homer from Emma Hoffmeister, but the Storm's Hadlee Nicholson walked it off with one out.
Four Trailblazers had multiple hits, led by Hoffmeister's three. She also went the distance in the circle and allowed six hits and walked 12.
The one victory of the weekend was a quick one, beating Umpqua in the opener in seven innings. CC piled up 21 hits on the day, with Chavez and Sara Haury leading the way with four each. It put up nine in the top of the seventh that saw Sheridan Hammons drive in three, Chavez and Fluetsch each having two-run hits.
Hammons, Fluetsch, Chavez and Ava Hernandez all had multiple RBIs. Hernandez tossed a complete game in the circle with four strikeouts.
The nightcap versus the Riverhawks experienced more heartbreak, this time in extra innings. CC led 8-3 on the backs of five runs in the fifth and three more in the sixth. Umpqua responded with a five-spot in the seventh and Gracie Mello hit the walk-off double in the ninth.
Chavez continued her stellar weekend with another home run and four RBIs while Hammons added three hits for the Blazers. They return home to Bob Peters Field on Friday to take on Clark in a doubleheader.