Ashlyn Darling went 7-for-8 at the plate along with two RBI for Sandpoint's softball team in its doubleheader loss to 4A Inland Empire League foe Lakeland on Thursday at Memorial Field.

“That’s why I have her in the lead-off spot,” Sandpoint softball coach Elizabeth Hawkins-Williams said. “She just hits the ball hard. When you’re hitting the ball as hard as you can, you can get the base hit.”

The Bulldogs dropped both games of the doubleheader 17-9, 19-6, but made moves in the right direction.

“Even though the scoreboard doesn’t show it, we accomplished a lot of things,” Hawkins-Williams said. “We played better defensively than we have all season.”

A big improvement came in the outfield; they were making hustle plays along with routine ones to end innings.

“They backed up the bases really well today,” Hawkins-Williams said. “They saved a lot of runs for us.”

Senior pitcher Kivia Barlow got the start on the mound during the opener. She struggled at times but managed to go the distance.

She gave up 17 runs on 21 hits and struck out four. This was Barlow’s first start of the season.

“We were looking for someone to step up and take on that responsibility,” Hawkins-Williams said. “She was able to show up for the team today.”

The Hawks and Bulldogs went hit-for-hit in the first game. By the end of it, the two Inland Empire League teams combined for 39 hits.

Darling led Sandpoint at the dish with five hits. Kalila Tuinstra had three, and three more Bulldogs added two hits apiece.

“18 was a season-high in hits for us,” Hawkins-Williams said. “It’s unfortunate to have that many hits and not come away with a win, but we still have a lot of things to clean up.”

In the second game, the Bulldogs ran out of gas. After playing in an extra-innings game against West Valley on Wednesday, paired with a full seven-inning game just moments before, Sandpoint didn’t have any juice left.

“It just had more to do with stamina than anything else,” Hawkins-Williams said. “We just ran out of gas. We haven’t played many doubleheaders past five innings and we went into extra innings the night before.”

Hawkins-Williams also highlighted junior Bella Crum’s performance in the outfield and at the dish.

Crum went 2-for-6 on the day with two triples.

“She had a great performance today,” Hawkins-Williams said. “She hasn’t had many at-bats, but I was glad to see her take advantage of her opportunities. She’s dominating on both sides of the field.

Sandpoint fell to 1-11 overall and 0-6 in Inland Empire League play. It’ll next play Lewiston in a doubleheader on Saturday at Airport Park.

GAME ONE

Lakeland 173 000 6 — 17 21 2

Sandpoint 060 011 0 — 9 18 0

E. Avalos and P. Sterling. Kivia Barlow and Jaidyn Inman.

HITS: LAK — See 3, Hanna, Sterling 4, Walls 2, Bryne 2, Dyer 3, Goncalves 2, White 2, Staudinger 2. SPT — Darling 5, Barlow 2, Ducken 2, Authier, Schwenk 2, Tuinstra 3, Inman, Cessna, Crum. 2B — See 2, Sterling, Bryne, Dyer 2, Staudinger 2 Inman. 3B — Sterling, Crum, Tuinstra. HR — Sterling.

GAME TWO

Lakeland 251 92 — 19 14 0

Sandpoint 032 01 — 6 10 0

E. Avalos and P. Sterling. Kivia Barlow, Cresanna Authier (1), Ashlyn Darling (2), Mayle Ducken (4).

HITS: LAK — See 3, Hanna, Avalos 3, Walls 3, Bryne, Staudinger, Goncalves, Dyer. SPT — Darling 2, Schwenk 2, Tuinstra 2, Inman 2, Crum, Bryson.