The Quilcene Rangers varsity fastpitch team will return to action after nearly a two-week layoff to play against Wishkah Valley High School this week.

Two other softball games planned for this week were scrubbed from the schedule, and next week, Quilcene is expecting to play  Muckleshoot Tribal School on Wednesday, April 20 on the road before finally returning home for another matchup against Wishkah Valley.

The Rangers entered Spring Break with an overall record of 3-3, following a 6-4 loss to Sequim and earlier, a 16-4 loss to the Mossyrock Vikings.

In action against Mossyrock, the Vikings jumped out to a 5-0 advantage during their first-ever visit to Quilcene.

The Vikings added another run in the third, followed by four in the fourth, before the Ranger offense reposed with a one-run fifth inning. Quilcene added three more runs in the following inning but Mossyrock scattered another six runs in the final innings to prevail 16-4.

Kayla Ward once again started the game for the Rangers, but on this day couldn’t get out of the second inning.

“Kayla battled some control problems. She will be fine; we all have confidence,” noted Quilcene Coach Mark Thompson.

Shelby Love came in to pitch and got Quilcene out of the second inning, and only gave up a third inning solo home run to the Vikings leadoff hitter.

Love then ran into control problems of her own, however, and freshman Abby Ward pitched the last 3 2/3 innings for Quilcene.

Abby Ward finished by giving up three earned runs, striking out two but also walking four batters.

“We walked 12 and hit one batter, most of these runners scored,” Thompson said.

Quilcene also had problems on the defensive end in this game, committing eight errors, often times allowing Viking baserunners to score.  

“We need to clean up our defense,” the Quilcene coach said. “We have the ability to do that, we just need more focus. Free bases and errors cost us today. We will be better moving forward.”

On the offensive end, lead-off hitter Savannah McBride has a solid day for the Rangers, going 2-for-4 with a double and two RBIs, and Abby Ward also chipped in with two hits.

Other Quilcene players who registered a hit were Ashley Jones, (1-for-3), Emery Reimann (1-for-2), and Love (1-for-1).

The limited Ranger offense was quite a contrast from earlier in the season, with Quilcene’s 23-7 win over Sequim in mid-March and the Rangers’ 25-drubbing of Concordia Christian Academy at home on March 24.

“Our offense has cooled a bit,” Thompson said. 

“Honestly, we hadn’t faced good pitching in over three years, and many of these girls are new,” he added. “Our early season success, I think, made us a bit too comfortable; now we know we have some hard work ahead of us on the offensive side, as well.”

Quilcene’s big inning of the day in the Mossyrock matchup was the sixth, which started with an Abby Ward single, followed by an Ashely Jones single. 

After a strike out, Reimann (a freshman and rookie) hit an infield single, which scored a run. Then McBride stepped up and hit a two-run double, which enabled the game to go the full seven innings. 

“Savannah has a real nice swing. When she is disciplined at the plate, she can be a tough out,” Thompson noted.