Under sunny skies Coach
Traci Fuller's Lower Columbia Softball team swept its opening weekend of the 2025 season – beating Treasure Valley at home on Friday 25-0 and 13-0, then traveled to Yakima Valley and took a pair from the Yaks, 5-0 and 9-0 on Saturday.
With four shutouts and eight home runs over the weekend there were plenty of highlights, but
Zoey Hughes saved the best for last when she threw a five-inning perfect game for the 9-0 win over YVC in the finale on Saturday. The Battle Ground freshman fanned nine hitters. The only close call was a first inning sinking liner to right-center field, which CF
Hailey Brooks tracked down with a diving grab in the gap.
The Red Devils will next take their 4-0 record to Pasco for the NWAC March Crossover on March 8-9. The Red Devils will see plenty of great competition vs NWAC North foes Everett, Douglas and Skagit Valley, along with a tough matchup with NWAC East contender Wenatchee Valley.
Opening weekend game-by-game recap:
Lower Columbia 25, Treasure Valley 0 (five innings)
Hughes (3 innings, 7 Ks) and
Jadyn Terry (2 innings, 3 Ks) combined on the one-hit shutout and the Red Devil bats got hot in a hurry with a seven-run barrage in the first inning. Leadoff hitter
Lexi Grumbois singled, Brooks scored her with a ringing double,
Allison Baumgart added a sac fly and
Kaydence Mackin had an RBI single.
Katelyn Swanson drove in a run with a double and, as the lineup rolled over, Grumbois lined a two RBI single and LCC never looked back.
Grumbois (4-5, five RBI) and
Brooklyn Loose (3-3, one RBI) homered later in the game, as did Brooks who also added three doubles and went 5-5 with four RBI.
Joelie Eder,
Rylee Brown, Mackin and Loose also doubled.
Savannah Hawkins was 3-4 with two RBI, Mackin 3-3 with two RBI, Brown 2-2 with two RBI (her first college hits) and Swanson 4-4 with three RBI.
Lower Columbia 13, Treasure Valley 0 (five innings)
Freshman hurler
Cerenity Fake went the distance, in control the whole way while throwing the one-hit shutout in her college debut. Fake walked just one and struck out 13 Chukar hitters.
The Devils had another quick start, plating four runs in the first on two-run home runs by Eder and Baumgart. Brooks tripled to complete the doubleheader cycle and later homered and Baumgart belted a grand slam in the second inning to put LCC up 9-0 and on the way to the sweep. Fake,
Dani Ambriz and
Gabi Silveria all collected their first college hits.
Lower Columbia 5, Yakima Valley 0
Freshman
Ava Eib got her turn in the circle on Saturday in Yakima and was masterful, throwing the complete game, three-hit shutout – with 15 Ks and four walks.
Mackin got the offense started with a monster solo shot to left-center field in the second inning. She also drove in an insurance run in the 7
th with a single. Baumgart was 2-3 with a double,
Shaz Ancheta 2-4 with a double (first college hits), Swanson 2-3 with a triple, Loose was 2-3 and Brown added an RBI single.
Lower Columbia 9, Yakima Valley 0 (five innings)
Once Brooks laid out to make the web gem catch in the bottom of the first, Hughes was untouchable as she fanned nine and allowed no base runners to register the perfect game.
The Red Devil offense was fueled by Grumbois with two singles and two RBI and Ancheta smacked a long triple to go along with a single and two RBI.
Emma Langsi registered her first college hit, added an RBI and a well-executed sacrifice bunt.
But the big story was Hughes and the perfecto, an outstanding ending to the first weekend of the 2025 campaign.
