Healdsburg finishes league with 6-6 record; best in years
The Greyhounds put the final touches on a strong North Bay League softball season, wrapping up the NBL schedule on June 1 with an overall record of 6-6.
The six wins represent the most for a Healdsburg team since 2009.
“We finished in a tie with Piner (for fourth place) but we have a better record against teams above us,” HHS veteran coach Brian Osborn said, completing his first season in a second tour of duty at the helm. “Our win against Ukiah was huge.”
The Hounds waged some great battles down the stretch to go 2-2 in the last four games against El Molino and Ukiah, the most notable being a wild, see-saw victory over the visiting Wildcats on May 20.
Trailing 1-0, Healdsburg pushed across five runs in the second inning to grab a 5-1 lead. The Wildcats clawed back with four unanswered runs to knot the contest at 5-5 after four. As it turned out, things were just getting started.
Down 6-5 in the fifth, the Hounds retook the advantage with two in the bottom the frame for a brief 7-6 edge. Ukiah came right back with two in the sixth, only to have Healdsburg push across two of its own in the home half of the inning to lead 9-8. But the ‘Cats tallied a solo run in the seventh to send it into extra frames tied at 9-all.
The score remained unchanged until the ninth, when Healdsburg’s Katy Conrad laced a two-out single, later scoring the winning run on a passed ball for a crazy, 10-9 victory.
Emily Dunkel led the hitting corps with four hits in four trips and one run batted in. Other batting leaders included Cami Hernandez (2 for 5, 2B) and Laurel Heaney (1 for 5, 2B, 2 RBIs).
The Hounds shook off a 22-1 drubbing at the hands of Ukiah when they paid El Molino a visit on May 27.
The Greyhounds jumped on El Mo pitching for nine runs in the first three innings, more than enough support for freshman pitcher Heaney (5 IP, 7 hits, 1 run, 3 Ks) en route to a 12-1 five-inning rout.
Heaney continued to swing a hot bat (3 for 4, 2B), while other leading hitters were Emma Falberg (2 for 3, 2B, 3 RBIs) and Nicki Richardson (1 for 3, 2 RBIs).
