After beating #1 ranked Mt. Hood CC in a non-league match-up, over the weekend of March 23-24 at the Inter-Region Tournament hosted at Centralia, the Bulldogs started off the league season on the right foot, sweeping doubleheaders from Everett, Skagit Valley and Edmonds. During the league games, the Dawgs outscored their opponents 70-3.
Bellevue opened North Region play beating Everett 9-0 and 9-2, then picked up wins against Skagit Valley by scores of 12-0 and 5-0, then finished the week off with wins over Edmonds, 19-0 and 16-1. Freshman pitchers Brielle Bray and Hannah Sauget each picked up three wins during the final week of March.
Then came the real challenge of unstable spring weather, which tossed the softball schedule to the winds, forcing rescheduling of the games against British Columbia-based Douglas College and trading home game playing sites with Olympic College. After almost a week of inactivity, the Bulldogs had a chance to take the field and quickly swept two games from Olympic on Tuesday, April 9, to remain undefeated thus far in North Region play. The Bulldogs are now 8-0 in North Region and 17-3 overall, earning a #5 ranking in the latest NWAACC Coaches poll.
In the first game Tuesday, Olympic scored two runs in the first inning, but the Bulldog bats responded scoring five runs of their own in the first inning and never looked back. After giving up the early two runs, Bellevue’s Bray settled in and gave up just one more run and four total hits for the day. Helping her was an ESPN-highlight defensive play by Bulldog right-fielder Autumn Isaacson. With two outs in the second inning, Olympic’s best hitter hit a drive to right field that looked to be a sure homerun, but Isaacson made a dramatic diving catch over the right field fence to secure the ball for the third out of the inning. The Bulldogs went on to win the first game 15-3. Bellevue’s Lauren Burchak hit a grand slam in the game to lead the way offensively for the Dawgs.
In game two, the Bulldogs bats remained hot as they scored eight runs in the first inning sparked by Meagan Ransier’s grand slam. Brittany Jacobson added a home run later in the game as Bellevue went on to win 12-2. Hannah Sauget threw a complete game, giving up just four hits and two runs.
Up next, the Bulldogs face Shoreline CC on Monday, April 15. The games are slated for 4 p.m. and 6 p.m. and are being played at the University of Washington softball field.
The Bulldogs then return home in a rain-makeup game against Douglas College on Thursday, April 18, at 2 p.m. and 4 p.m. on the BC softball field.
Last Updated January 27, 2014
