Split ends: Lady Braves win one, lose one

It was an up-and-down week for the La Conner High softball team, which earned a split in games against two quality foes.

Fortunately for the Lady Braves, they won the meeting that mattered most.

La Conner edged NW2B rival Friday Harbor 3-1 at home behind a virtuoso seven-strikeout effort from junior hurler Olivia Hedlund, who helped her cause with a double and two runs driven in.

With the win, La Conner kept its conference ledger unblemished with a 2-0 mark.

The Lady Braves are 5-3 overall going into today’s (Wednesday’s) 2 p.m. non-league home clash with Quilcene.

Hedlund’s batterymate, catcher Emma Christianson, helped charge the La Conner attack against Friday Harbor with a single and a walk in three trips while scoring one of La Conner’s three runs.

First baseman Ashley Watkins went two-for-three at the plate, tallied once, and continued her superb defense of late with nine putouts and an assist.

LeAnne Swan likewise played a key role for the victors, lining a single in three at-bats plus recording two putouts and four assists at second base.

La Conner, which played flawless defense against the Lady Wolverines, wasn’t nearly as sharp in a 13-3 setback at Lynden Christian two days later.

The Lady Lynx took advantage of key La Conner miscues to pick up the non-league decision.

“We have a pretty young team with new players in several positions,” La Conner head coach Peg Seeling explained after the loss to 1A Lynden Christian, “so we’re just getting to know what we have, and we’re building on the potential out there.”

Yet despite Thursday’s final score, many of the pieces are fitting together quite nicely.

Chloe Fullington, for instance, reached Lady Lynx pitching for a single and a triple. Lexi Nelson chipped in a safety in two trips and scored a run.

Hedlund, making her second start in three days, whiffed five Lynden Christian batters.

“This was a week of highs and lows for us,” Seeling acknowledged. “We beat a very good Friday Harbor team in a great game with no errors but then turned around and committed six errors at Lynden Christian.”

Still, she stressed, the positives far outweighed the negatives — especially in terms of the Lady Braves responding with one of their best outings of the campaign in the big NW2B matchup opposite Friday Harbor.

La Conner resumes league action this Friday with a 4 p.m. home date against Concrete. The April 24 junior varsity contest is set to get underway about 90 minutes later.

In a related note:

• La Conner hosted a five-school NW2B Junior Varsity Tournament last Wednesday. Concrete, Darrington, Friday Harbor, Orcas, and La Conner comprised the event’s bracket. “We had a great time,” Seeling said, “and it gave our younger players a chance to get some valuable playing time.”