Better late, then never.
 
For 13 innings of Lower Columbia's doubleheader at Everett on Sunday, the Red Devils plated just two runs on four hits. That added up to a 7-0 loss in the first game and a tenuous 2-1 lead in the night cap with the Trojans at bat, two runners in scoring position and two out in the bottom of the 6^th inning.
 
An Everett hooking liner had trouble written all over it for LCC, but Devils' left fielder Sunny Bennion got a good jump to a make knee-level running catch, which ended the threat.
 
The stalwart defensive play energized the Red Devils in the dugout and the momentum swing grew larger when Emily Panush opened the 7^th inning by beating out an infield grounder in the 5-6 hole.
 
Two walks later, Ada Williams and Mallory Brown smoked consecutive two-RBI doubles, Angela Sullivan added an RBI single, and after another walk Katelyn McGough unloaded a titanic grand slam to put LCC up 11-1 over the previously unbeaten Trojans.
 
Ada Williams hit a two-run moon shot two batters later for the final margin in the 13-1 second game win. All-in-all 15 batters came to the plate, 11 runs scored on seven hits, five walks and an Everett error.
 
The offensive explosion gave pitcher Jade Behic more cushion than she could have imagined after six tight innings. Behic was sharp all game, going the distance while allowing only a leadoff solo home run and five other hits. She fanned 10 and was in command all the way for her fourth win in the circle in 2022.
 
The game ended with Panush making an incredible diving catch of a shallow pop-up to right field, caught up in a wind gust.
 
The dramatic finish for Lower Columbia followed a frustrating game one, when Everett's Kailey Hoskins allowed a single hit to LCC's Katie Adkins and struck out 18.
 
Rylee Peters started and was pitching well into the third inning for LCC, before slipping on the Everett turf as she threw a pitch and sustaining an ankle injury. The Trojans led 1-0 at the time. Darby DeRuyter and Kyla Cook pitched will in emergency relief, but a five-run Everett 4^th inning was keyed by two Red Devil communication errors on defense, which gave Hoskins all she needed to cruise to the win.
 
Saturday: Red Devils sweep Olympic in five inning games
Lower Columbia made an early morning trip to Bremerton on Saturday and beat the rain with 8-0 and 19-1 wins over the Rangers, both ended by the five-inning mercy rule.
 
Behic hit a two-run first inning home run to lead a five-run outburst to open game one. That was way more support than Peters needed in a commanding performance in the circle – allowing just one Olympic hit and striking out four for her first college win in the circle.
 
McGough and Behic both had three hits, with Behic going deep twice and driving in three runs. Adkins had a single and two RBI and Taylor Avram, Maddie Curaming and Peters all chipped in RBI singles.
 
Game two was all LCC, scoring in all five innings – including 15 runs over the final three innings. Behic pitched the first four innings for the win, with DeRuyter throwing a 1-2-3 final inning.
 
McGough pounded a home run, three singles and had six RBI. Behic hit her third HR of the day added a double and drove in five runs. Sullivan drilled her first college bomb, driving in three runs. Brown and Destiny Dunlap each had three hits.
 
Lower Columbia now stands 5-3 overall and is set to start NWAC South Region play on Saturday, March 19 in the home opener vs. Chemeketa. First pitch of the doubleheader is at noon at Heerensperger Field at Tam O' Shanter Park in Kelso.
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