La Conner softball playoff drive rolls ahead with Concrete

They say it’s tough to beat the same team three times in a season.

That means the La Conner High Lady Braves hope four times is a definite impossibility.

La Conner, losers of three straight games to Concrete – though once by a mere 6-5 margin – open District softball play at Stanwood Friday afternoon in a loser-out match opposite the Lady Lions.

The winner between La Conner and Concrete at 3:30 p.m. will turn around and face the Friday Harbor-Orcas victor with a State Tournament berth on the line.

Based on La Conner’s recent experience, Friday Harbor – 12-0 in league and 16-4 overall – will be tough in any pairing.

The Lady Wolverines closed out regular season play on Friday with a convincing 11-1 NW2B victory at home over La Conner.

“They’re very solid defensively,” Lady Braves assistant coach Brad Reynolds said of Friday Harbor afterward. “They place their hits well and they’re aggressive on the bases. They’ve a very sound team. Very fundamental.”

Friday Harbor posted crooked numbers in each of the first three innings of its clash with La Conner.

The Lady Wolverines scored three times in the first inning, twice more in the second, and recorded another three-spot in the third.

The hosts added a lone marker in the fourth and two scores in the sixth.

The Lady Braves averted a shutout thanks to Haley Hakenson’s RBI single in the top of the sixth.

Hakenson collected one of three La Conner safeties on the day. Sarah McCormack and pitcher Kahneesha Casey had the other two, both singles.

La Conner’s struggles at Friday Harbor were a far cry from how the Lady Braves had fared earlier in the week against the Nooksack Valley junior varsity.

For La Conner, that game was a walk in the park. Literally.

The Lady Braves drew 15 free passes from Nooksack hurlers en route to an easy 12-1 non-league triumph. Conversely, La Conner’s pitching was near flawless.

Casey rang up 10 strikeouts and scattered five hits over the same number of innings.

“Kahneesha pitched very well,” Lady Braves head coach Loran James stressed. “They struggled to hit off her.”

La Conner broke open a scoreless tie with five runs in the second. The Lady Braves tacked on four more tallies in the third.

The visitors closed out their scoring with three fourth inning runs.

Nooksack scored its only run in the bottom of the fifth.

Hakenson paced the La Conner attack with a single, double, triple and five RBIs.

Riley Banaszak and McCormack each lined base hits and combined for three runs batted in.

By splitting last week’s games, La Conner goes into District action with Concrete sporting an even 6-6 NW2B slate. The Lady Braves are 8-9 overall.