Rain washes out Darrington road trip

When it rains, it pours.

Perhaps no more so than in the Darrington area, still reeling from last week’s tragic mudslide at nearby Oso, a disaster so heartbreaking it has played out repeatedly in the national media.

The La Conner High Lady Braves were scheduled to visit Darrington last week, but persistent rain — not the aftermath of the somber and tearful Oso emergency — washed out the much-anticipated District softball pairing.

“We had confirmed with them that they really wanted us to come to help them heal and get back to normal,” Lady Braves head coach Peg Seeling said Friday, “but the game was postponed due to weather.”

Seeling and others have noted that Darrington emergency medical technicians and paramedics were among the first to respond to the grim Oso slide area.

The Lady Braves were hoping to play not only to lend support to the Darrington community, but to maintain momentum generated earlier in the week.

La Conner was coming off a crisp 4-0 shutout win over Friday Harbor, a game in which Lady Braves hurler Olivia Hedlund struck out seven and yielded just one hit and a lone walk.

Hedlund had also helped her cause by lining two of La Conner’s eight safeties and plating one of the victors’ tallies.

Lauren Reynolds also collected two singles for the winners.

Emma Christianson, Nakiya Edwards, Leanne Swan, and Elizabeth Tripp likewise joined the La Conner hit parade.

And hits were aplenty when the Lady Braves routed the Anacortes junior varsity 16-2 in the week’s other action.

Tripp checked the Lady Seahawk JVs on three hits while fanning five hitters. Both Anacortes scores were unearned.

Hedlund paced the La Conner attack with a double and two singles. Edwards, Tripp, Reynolds, and Sarah McCormack also ripped two singles apiece.

Ashley Watkins, Chloe Fullington, Brianna Porter, Christianson, and Swan rounded out La Conner’s 16-hit attack.

The bolstered La Conner offense was a welcome sight for Seeling.

“We continue to work on our hitting,” she said, “but for a really young team, I’m pleased with our progress.”

That might be construed as an understatement, given that La Conner outhit its foes 24-4 on the week.

Then, again, it’s hard to compare with what was near perfect pitching. Hedlund and Tripp each went the distance in their wins and neither was touched for an earned run.

“Our pitchers continue to do a great job,” Seeling stressed, “and overall we played pretty well this week.”