With senior starting pitcher Lisa Nelson nursing a back injury, the defending 3A state champion Juanita Rebels have had to turn to the team’s younger players to fill the void at the pitcher’s circle.
On Wednesday against Mercer Island, it was freshman pitcher Eden Radke, who was making her second appearance this season after a three-year break from pitching duties.
Aside from weathering a second-inning rally from her opponents, it looked like the Juanita freshman never gave it up.
Radke held Mercer Island to four scoreless innings and got plenty of run support from her teammates as the Rebels beat the Islanders 13-5 Wednesday at South Mercer Playfields.
“It felt good to be out there,” Radke said. “I’m proud of myself because it’s been awhile since I’ve pitched and I did pretty well.”
“She did awesome, she’s exactly what this team needs,” Juanita coach Traci Odegard said. “Especially with our pitcher out too, she’s stepping up as a freshman. She’s doing great.”
Juanita was out in front early, with Kristina Warford and Briar Swayne batting in two of the Rebels’ four first-inning runs. The Rebels tacked on one more in the top of the second with an RBI single from Jordan Schroeder to take a 5-0 advantage.
The Islanders responded with three runs of their own in the bottom of the second inning. Phoebe Larson and Kayla Varney each batted in runs to make it a 5-3 contest.
But the Rebels came back the next inning, drawing six walks and scoring four more runs to pull away. As a team, the Rebels drew 15 walks while driving in eight runs. Warford went 3-4 at the plate with three RBI to lead the Rebels.
Mercer Island coach Dale Watanabe said being a little overanxious at the plate may have kept his team from providing more run support against Juanita.
“Normally we’re a better hitting team, we were just not waiting for the ball enough and really making good contact with it,” Watanabe said. “This is a good test for us, but I think we played with them. We just need to eliminate some of the walks. I think from a fielding perspective, we’re a good fielding team, we’re a good hitting team, we just didn’t show it today.”
