Community Sports

Peninsula, Gig Harbor both among top softball teams in state

Two of the top 18 Class 3A softball teams in the state, as ranked by the high school sports website Maxpreps, square off on the afternoon of Wednesday, April 6. And they don’t even have to leave the peninsula to do it.

No. 7 Peninsula and No. 18 Gig Harbor are both unbeaten in South Sound Conference play and face each other at 3:30 p.m. Wednesday, April 6, at Peninsula High School.

Anticipation for this one is high, and not only because it’s a rivalry game. A lot of talented players with a ton of experience will be on display.

This area is becoming a hotbed for fastpitch talent, with young girls tearing up the fields on competitive youth teams every spring and summer. Often the most talented girls play both a high school schedule and for touring teams that travel up and down the West Coast.

The result of all those games and practices is that the skill levels improve and local fastpitch programs become dominant, like Peninsula and Gig Harbors have.

Let’s take a deeper look at both teams and a few of their top performers as we preview this fastpitch match up.

Gig Harbor

Gig Harbor is hitting .421 as a team, and the Tides (6-2, 6-0 SSC) have scored a ton of runs with a tough combination of hitting and speed. Gig Harbor’s only losses on the season came to Class 4A powers Lake Washington and North Creek from Bothell.

Gig Harbor coach Jim Peschek has plenty to smile about as he has a well-balanced team that has a great mix between senior leadership, solid and dependable juniors and sophomores and a fantastic freshman who has certainly introduced herself in the right way.

Senior Audrey Allen is one of the hottest hitters in the state and leads all high school classifications with 28 RBI. She is batting .556 with three triples and four home runs. She is a pure left-handed power hitter who consistently hits the ball hard and drove in nine runs in a single game this year.

Riley Peschek is a smooth-fielding shortstop who is hitting .500 with six doubles, two home runs and 17 RBI. She has 40 putouts at shortstop with four double plays turned.

Freshman Danielle Beal is batting .615 and is fourth in the state with 19 runs. She has also stolen 12 bases without being caught.

The ninth grader moved from second base to center field but has done that effortlessly, as she uses her ample speed to catch balls in the air and has a cannon of an arm.

Junior catcher Sara Holland is also batting .500 with two homers and 13 RBI. Those are great hitting numbers from a catcher. Coach Peschek described her as “the hardest-working kid on the team” and said that “Sarah is an all-out softball player.”

Sophomore Emma Vandervort is hitting .429 with two home runs and four stolen bases and is also one of the top three pitchers in the Tides’ rotation.

On the mound, the Tides excel are mixing speeds, curving the ball and hitting locations. Ella Barrett, Paige Harthorn and Emma Vandervort are very competitive and keep the ball down in the strike zone. All three are praised by their coach as tremendous defensive pitchers inside the circle.

Peninsula

Peninsula (7-1, 3-0 SSC) is on a six-game winning streak and have been scoring in impressive fashion. They have an abundance of talent at the plate as well as a stingy defense.

Coach Mike Paul has a group of girls who can flat out smack the ball around the park. He also has a team that is incredibly young, with only one senior in Aislinn O’Reilly.

The Seahawks have outscored their opponents 90-16 on the season. Let’s look at some of the Seahawk players that are the key contributors for their first- place team.

Junior shortstop Allie Kimball is batting .478 with a .570 on-base percentage, scoring nine runs while hitting two home runs. She has a .933 fielding percentage at shortstop and is also the Seahawks’ best pitcher.

She has struck out 77 batters and recently tossed a no-hitter in a 5-1 victory over Yelm, with Peninsula allowing one run on three errors but no hits.

Junior Grace Estabrook is batting .370 with 10 runs, 10 RBI, two doubles and a triple.

Senior Aislinn O’Reilly is batting .393 with eleven hits, nine RBI and three home runs.  Her quickness has allowed her to hit two triples as she has good speed on the basepaths.

Sofia Hooper is hitting .400 with seven runs and seven RBI. And freshman Mira Sonnen has seven hits, five RBI, two homers and nine runs.

Along with Kimball, the Seahawks rely on O’Reilly on the mound. She is 2-0 with a 4.00 ERA and nine strikeouts. Estabrook has a solid 3.50  ERA and Payton Davis has not allowed in runs in short relief work.