MOSES LAKE — After a three-year hiatus, the Big Bend Lady Vikings (4-13) are back in full swing. Their most recent outing saw them suffer back-to-back losses in a doubleheader against Treasure Valley Community College 13-6 and 17-3.   

“Big Bend softball used to be a really big part of the community, and not having that for the last three years, and finally, bringing it back, we're hearing a lot of people just saying how thankful they are to have a season again, and even the girls are just like, we're just so excited to play," Head Coach Kaitlyn Rizo said.   

Game one saw a strong start from the Vikings as they took a 6-3 lead after a two-run inning in the bottom of the fifth. However, Treasure Valley erupted in the top of the sixth with a seven-run offensive outing to take the lead, which they would hold until the end of the game to secure their first win of the day. In game two, Treasure Valley strung together 15 runs in the first three innings. From there, BBCC held TVCC to two more runs but could not mount a comeback, and the game concluded after five innings.   

“We do need to be a little bit more aggressive,” Rizo said. “It's only the second weekend, and we're still kind of working out the kinks. The girls are ready to fight, and I think the more we fix the little issues and the little bugs, the more successful we're going to be.”   

After falling behind 0-3, the Lady Vikings caught fire in the second inning, as a home run by Shanoah Spear helped her, and Dakota Brown, get home in the bottom of the second, cutting the deficit to 2-3.   

Strong pitching by Brown held TVCC scoreless in the top of the third. They added to their lead with runs by Taya Riner getting home off a single by Alexa Clark. Shortly after, Peyton Trautman hit a home run, giving them a 4-3 lead heading into the fourth inning.   

After a scoreless fourth inning by both teams, Big Bend added two more scores thanks to another homer by Trautman. Riner also got home for the second time, increasing the lead to 6-3. However, Treasure Valley erupted in the final two innings, outscoring the Vikings 10-0 to retake the lead and seal the win 13-6.  

“Treasure Valley definitely has some really good hitters, and they are a quicker team,” Rizio said. “We knew that going in. I always do my research before we play any of the teams, and we knew that they were going to hit, and we were trying to place the balls where we knew they were going to hit it too. The wind doesn't help with that factor at all, but we knew they had some big hitters, and we were just ready for the challenge.”  

Treasure Valley carried their newfound momentum into game two, as they jumped out to a 15-1 lead after the third inning. The Vikings lone score at the time was home run by Spear in the second inning. From there, TVCC was limited to a pair of scores across the fourth fifth innings. Runs by Kinzley Adams and Kayla Anthony cut the Lady Vikings deficit to 16-3, but it was not enough to make a comeback, and they suffered their second loss of the day.   

Despite the losses, Rizo is confident in her team’s potential this season. One positive she felt was in the pitching. Brown pitched the entire first game and two innings in game two. Across both games, she threw 112 strikes out of 193 pitches and struck out four batters.   

“I think the girls threw really well this weekend. I think Dakota (Brown) threw really well, especially when I knew she was getting tired there towards the end, and she just continued to fight through. That's what I like to see as a coach, is (them) just fighting through, even though we're all tired.”   

The Vikings only have two sophomores on their roster this season, the remaining 14 players are freshman. However, they may be a young team on paper, Rizo said that has not shown in their play.   

“A lot of these girls come from really good high school programs, and they have a really good softball IQ. Even though we are young, I do think that we are more of that sophomore type team, just because of how much knowledge that these girls have and how much drive and ambition that they have,” the coach said.   

Big Bend is slated for another busy weekend of play as they have back-to-back doubleheaders against Columbia Basin College, starting at 2 p.m. Friday and Walla Walla Community College, starting at noon Saturday. As they prepare for each team's strong pitching, Rizo and the Vikings are going to focus on offensive execution in practice this week, she said.   

“This week we're definitely going to focus on a lot of hitting and getting a lot of reps in. CBC has really good pitching, and so does Walla Walla. I think just being able to execute offensively will really help us out. Our defense is usually pretty solid, so we're going to still practice some defensive stuff, but I think just really hitting it hard with some offensive type work this week is what's going to set us up for success,” Rizo said.   

BOX SCORES:   

Game one   

TVCC: 1-2-0-0-0-7-3: 13  
BBCC: 0-2-2-0-2-0-0: 6  

Game two  

TVCC: 3-4-8-1-1: 17  
BBCC: 0-1-0-0-2: 3 

    Dakota Brown (18) throws against Treasure Valley Saturday. Brown pitched all of game one and two innings of game two for the Big Bend Lady Vikings.
  

    Big Bends’ Peyton Trautman (9) fields ball in the outfield and passes it back to centerfield during their game against Treasure Valley Saturday. Trautman also hit two home runs Saturday.
  

    Maddy Morris (23) tags out a Treasure Valley player who dived for the home plate.