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Sophomore Katelyn Sonnichsen threw a no-hitter and Kamiak’s offense continued its recent hot streak as the Knights defeated Mariner 10-0 in five innings in a Wesco 4A softball game Friday, April 26, at Kamiak High School.

The victory was the Knights’ fourth in the last five games and also the fourth time in the last five games that the team has scored double digits runs.

“I feel like we’re on the upswing,” Kamiak coach Ann Bradley said.

Sophomore co-captain Jadynn Bushnell noted the more games the Knights have, the better they are hitting.

“Everyone is used to seeing live pitching,” she said. “We definitely have caught up to some of the faster pitchers. We have a good hitting streak going.”

A turning point for Kamiak was its 10-7 come-from-behind victory over Monroe on Tuesday, April 23. The Knights trailed 5-1 early but rallied for nine runs with Bushnell driving in the winning run in the bottom of the seventh inning. The Bearcats beat the Knights 11-7 in late March.

“They really felt they should have won that (first) game,” Bradley said. “My girls really came out hungry after losing to Monroe.”

Bradley saw a mental and physical shift from the Knights after the victory.

“They all really believed they could hit the ball,” she said. “They came back and won. That’s huge. There is no give up.”

Friday’s victory wrapped up a busy week for Sonnichsen, who saw action in three other games. The sophomore pitched in the second half of the Monroe contest, all of the 14-3 victory over Mount Vernon and the final four innings of an 8-2 loss to Lake Stevens.

Sonnichsen struck out 10 in the complete-game performance against the Marauders.

“A solid defense behind me really helped me out,” she said. “We all came out strong.”

Sophomore Natalie Smullin led off the first inning with a triple and scored on junior Lindsey Greenfield’s single to right field. The Knights then pushed across seven runs in the third inning in part to some defensive lapses in the outfield and infield by the Marauders.

Sophomores Sara Schnurman and Kelci Carroll each drove in two runs with a pair of singles.

Mariner coach Nathan Beachy said that the Marauders aren’t able to regroup as quickly after errors.

“The recovery from them are not what they need to be yet,” he said. “We’ve got to be quicker on – make a mistake, fix it. Instead of make a mistake and pile it on. That’s what seemed to be happening a lot this year. That’s just youth. … The in-game reaction or the in game adjustment doesn’t happen as quick.”

Kamiak added a run in the fourth on a sacrifice fly by Bushnell that scored Greenfield, who led off the inning with a double. Smullin drove in Heidi Baird for the winning run (10-run mercy rule) in the fifth inning.

Beachy said that Friday’s game was one of the better performances from freshman pitcher Alexis Slater.

“She was spotting up real good,” Beachy said. “We got the ball in play the way we wanted to. Even on that last play, we were looking for a ground ball. … We played the infield in. She (Smullin) found one to end it.”

Bradley was impressed with Sonnichen’s work last week.

“She’s finding her zone really well now,” Bradley said. “It’s a lot for her to pitch in one week. I understand that, but when she’s throwing the way she’s throwing, it’s kind of hard not to put her in.”

CALLING ALL ALUMNI: All former Kamiak softball players are encouraged to attend Alumni Night on Friday, May 3 at Kamiak High School. The Knights take on Mount Vernon in a game scheduled for 5:15 p.m.