Victory lays on horizon

Rayna Trahan knows its just a matter of time before a win comes.

The third-year Oak Harbor fastpitch coach sees improvement in her team’s hitting, defense and overall camaraderie every day.

“We’ve been playing seven innings, keeping the score down and limiting our errors...,” she said.

But for now, the losing streak lives on.

The Wildcats fell 12-1 at home to Mount Vernon on Thursday, marking the program’s 44th consecutive loss dating back to its last win March 27, 2004 against Squalicum.

Despite the defeat, Trahan was happy with the steps taken toward getting the first victory.

“This is the first time we’ve scored in league,” she said. “That was one of our goals — to actually get on the scoreboard.”

And that first league run was a result of hard work the previous day’s practice.

“That’s all we worked on was just basic mechanics and trying to get the girls to swing the bat hard,” Trahan said.

OHHS did just that. The Wildcats recorded five hits Thursday, but more importantly hit the ball hard every time, even on outs.

Senior Sarah Meagher paved the way for OHHS going 2-for-3 with a double and an RBI. Other’s picking up hits were sophomore Jessica Kallander, freshman Alexis Marquis and freshman Kaylee Meders.

“Most of them that got hits today hadn’t had a hit all season, we had a lot of firsts today,” Trahan said.

Mount Vernon, however, was the first to strike Thursday. The Bulldogs earned two runs in the first inning and two more in the third for a 4-0 lead.

OHHS countered in the bottom of the third after a two-out bunt base hit from Kallander. The next batter, junior Courtney Brown, was hit by a pitch and Meagher followed that up with an RBI single to center field.

MVHS continued to pull away, however, tacking on two more runs in the fifth and six more in the sixth with the help of four OHHS errors. The Bulldogs were led by Kelsey Anderson, who was 3-for-4.

Mount Vernon 202 026 — 12 13 0

Oak Harbor 001 000 — 1 5 7

Richter and White. Ratliff and Meagher. WP-Richter. LP-Ratliff (0-11).

Stanwood 2, OHHS 0

Oak Harbor played solid defense Tuesday, but couldn’t get its offense moving in a 2-0 loss at Stanwood.

“We thought it was going to happen Tuesday with Stanwood,” said Trahan, of breaking the streak. “We just had a couple of errors and couldn’t get the bats moving.”

Kallander had a triple for the Wildcats.

OHHS is now 0-7 in the Western Conference North and 0-11 overall. The Wildcats play their next game Tuesday, April 18 at Marysville-Pilchuck.

Oak Harbor 000 000 0 — 0 2 1

Stanwood 000 020 x — 2 7 0

Ratliff and Meagher. Vaughan and McCoy. WP-Vaughan. LP-Ratliff.

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