MOSES LAKE — The Washington Rage 16U (5-5-1) took a step forward over the weekend after making a run to the semifinals of their weekend tournament.  

“The improvement from last weekend to this past weekend was very noticeable,” Head Coach Bob Richardson said. “With their first tournament of the year, you got to figure out what you need to work on, and most of this team hadn't played together in a tournament yet. Our offense was phenomenal, with the exception of the semifinal game. The girls hit the ball really well, and (there were) contributions up and down the lineup.” 

Their tournament run began Saturday, where they went 3-0 against the competition. As the day went on, the bats came alive, Richardson said. They first defeated the Liberty Lake Lightning 16U 8-2 before taking another win against the Washington Firecrackers 16U 19-3 in two innings. They finished Saturday with a 15-5 win over the Elevate Northwest Biell 16U squad, advancing them further in the tournament. After a 7-3 win over the Elevate NW Teal 16U, the Rage concluded the tournament with a 10-0 loss by the NCW SunDevils 16U team.  

Despite falling short in the semifinals, Richardson was happy with the team’s improvement.

“I think as they gelled, they knew in the lineup where we were going to struggle a little bit and where we were going to be successful,” he said. “The great thing is, everybody hit this weekend. It's not like last weekend where we had three girls who didn't get a hit. As a coach, it's fun because I'm very aggressive and I like to get the game moving. So, if I've got speed on the base paths, I'm going to take advantage of that and put pressure on the defense, and we were able to do that.” 

Liberty Lake Lightning 16U 

The Rage beat the Lightning 8-2 in six innings. They scored once in the first and added three runs in the second to take a 4-2 lead, then broke the game open with four more runs in the bottom of the fourth. Liberty Lake’s only runs came in the second inning; the Rage held them scoreless the rest of the way. 

Putting together a standout performance was Amaiah Martinez, who recorded two runs, three hits, four RBIs and a home run.  

“Her bat is on fire right now. She's hitting the ball well, she's seeing it well,” Richardson said.  

Also getting home for the Rage were Brooklyn Bruce, Taylor Peterson, Claire Michelbook, Julia Breiler and Kylah Young, who scored twice. Malorie Lane held it down in the pitcher’s circle for all six innings, allowing just four hits and two earned runs and striking out six batters.  

WA Firecrackers 16U 

The Rage won the game in the first inning with an explosive 17 runs, to take immediate control. The Firecrackers responded with three runs in the bottom of the first, but it was not enough as the Rage added two more runs in the top of the second to seal the win in two innings.  

“I had to run us out of the inning because I started looking, I'm like, 'Oh my gosh, Amaiah is getting ready to come up for the third time,’” Richardson said. “We had two outs, so I ran our number 10 batter (and) I just ran off the base so that we could get out of the inning.” 

Martinez, Lane and Bruce each scored three runs while Kylie Christensen, Isabella Suarez, Peterson and Michelbook got home twice. As a team, the Rage recorded 16 RBIs and accumulated eight stolen bases. 

Elevate NW Biell 16U 

From there, the Rage closed out Saturday with another dominant 15-5 win over Elevate. Like the previous game, they were able to run up the score early with 10 runs in the bottom of the first inning. With a 10-2 lead, they added four more in the second and a single in the third to solidify the win in three innings. Elevate managed to add three more runs in the top of the third.  

Martinez continued to shine, recording a hit on all three at bats and tallying up three more runs. Also logging a trio of runs was Christensen. Bruce led the lineup with four RBIs, Michelbook was right behind her with three; Christensen and Martinez each had two of their own. Peterson and Young also got a teammate home adding to a total of 13 as a team.  

Elevate NW Teal 16U 

The Rage had to battle from behind on Sunday after the Elevate Teal held a 3-1 lead through the top of the fourth inning. From there, the Rage opened the game up on offense with two runs to swing momentum in their favor. After holding Elevate Teal scoreless in the top of the fifth, they added four more runs to secure a 7-3 win.  

Martinez, Lane, Christensen and Rayna Waters all got home to help the team to their fourth consecutive win and advance to the semifinals.  

NCW SunDevils 16U 

The Rage’s run came to a halt after a 10-0 loss to the SunDevils. NCW jumped ahead with seven runs in the first inning and added three more in the second, while holding the Rage scoreless throughout the semifinal matchup. 

“We started out in that big rut; we started pressing, and it showed,” Richardson said. “I think we were trying too hard to win it in two swings instead of (just) battling back.” 

Despite how the tournament concluded, the Rage’s performance throughout the weekend left Richardson excited for the rest of the season, he said. His favorite part of coaching this year’s team has been their willingness to learn, he noted.  

“They're sponges, which is great,” he said. “They want to learn, they want to know more ... That's the kind of stuff that makes it fun for a coach. I’ve got kids who believe. When they believe, you can do a lot.” 

BOX SCORES: 

Game one (Saturday) 

LBRT: 0-2-0-0-0-0: 2 

RAGE: 1-3-0-4-0-X: 8 

Game two 

RAGE: 17-2: 19 

WFRC: 3-0: 3 

Game three 

ELVB: 2-0-3: 5 

RAGE: 10-4-1: 15 

Game four (Sunday) 

ELVT: 1-2-0-0-0: 3 

RAGE: 1-0-0-2-4: 7 

Game five 

NCWS: 7-3-0: 10 

RAGE: 0-0-0: 0