OLYMPIA — Early in the season, it was nearly impossible to get a gauge on what type of team the North Thurston Rams would be.
Sam Harding’s bunch started 2-5, with a lowlight in the form of a season-opening meltdown against Gig Harbor in which the Rams blew an 11-run lead. North Thurston’s offense was unpredictable; the bats went quiet against powerful squads like Timberline, Peninsula and Central Kitsap but exploded for 37 runs against Lakes.
Even in that tough start, Harding knew what their potential was. He knew the talent in the room. He knew every girl was bought in and brought energy to the club. And, in time, he knew they would put it all together and make a serious run at a postseason berth..
Harding’s vision is beginning to take form.
North Thurston stymied Olympia 16-4 at Stevens Field Thursday to earn its fifth consecutive victory, all of which have featured offensive outputs of 14 or more runs. This is the longest winning streak this decade for the Rams.
“I hand it off to the girls. It’s the hard work they put in. They’re dedicated and they’re focused,” Harding said.
During this hot streak, the top of the Rams’ batting order — headlined by Isabella Haagen, Paige Guyer, Sara Halterman, Saihdee Trolson and Syriahs Trolson — has been as difficult to record outs against as any group in Class 3A. As a team, North Thurston has struck out only 56 times all season on 428 plate appearances — just 13.1% of the time.
That core five pummeled Olympia Thursday, combining to hit 13 for 20 with 10 runs batted in and five walks. Additionally, just one strikeout among them.
Syriahs Trolson finished 4 of 5 with three RBIs, and Halterman tallied three RBIs on a 3-for-5 afternoon. Halterman leads the Rams in batting average (.500), hits (21) and is tied for the team lead in RBIs (20).
It all comes down to a mentality that the coaches often yell to the players — see ball, hit ball. Uncomplicated enough, but it’s a mantra that is driving the Rams lineup to success from top to bottom.
“I was just working more on my contact. See ball, hit ball,” Halterman said. “I wasn’t trying to do anything too crazy, and it worked out for me. We lead by example. When the top of the lineup does good, our bottom follows. It’s a rally back to back to back.”
The top of the North Thurston lineup got a rally going in the top of the first inning. After Haagen earned a leadoff walk against Bears starter Abby Crawford and a groundout by Guyer moved Haagen to third, the Rams strung together five consecutive successful at bats. Halterman and Saihdee Trolson belted RBI doubles to the outfield, and Syriahs Trolson followed with an RBI single and later scored on an error to cap off a four-run first inning.
Olympia, playing in its fourth game in four days, battled in the second inning. Three straight singles, including RBI knocks by Nia Huckaby and Katelyn Pearson, and a sacrifice groundout by Aliyah Eberle put three runs on the board for the Bears.
After Crawford worked a perfect third inning, the Bears had an opportunity to tie the game in the bottom half of the frame. Sydney Potvin singled with one out, but Rams pitcher Syriahs Trolson retired the next two batters.
Once again, the heart of the Rams order piggybacked off one another in the fourth inning. With two outs, Guyer kicked off the rally with an RBI single, and three more Rams reached base after her. Halterman drove in a run on a single, Saihdee Trolson walked with the bases loaded, and Syriahs Trolson singled home Halterman, pushing Olympia’s lead to 8-3.
Eberle drove in her second run of the day in the fourth with a two-out RBI single, but, once again, Syriahs Trolson left Olympia runners stranded on the bases. Guyer added an RBI single in the fifth inning for her second RBI of the day.
Harding once described his players collectively as “aggressively patient” at the plate, as well as selfless. The seventh inning against Olympia was a prime example of those characterizations. If the desired pitch to hit isn’t there, the Rams don’t hack away at whatever crosses the plate. When the pitch is there, it seems the ball is put in play almost every time.
The Trolson sisters each notched a single to start the seventh, and Alyvia Belton loaded the bases on a fielder’s choice that failed to produce an out. With one out, freshman Lylah Hoy came up to the plate, and as she did so, Rams assistant coach Arista Honey turned to the other coaches in the dugout and said, “It’s her time.”
Hoy showed plenty of fight in the big moment. After looking at strike one, she fouled three straight pitches out of play. Staring down an 0-2 pitch, she barreled up a low pitch past the second baseman and brought two runs home. Hoy reacted in disbelief as she reached second base.
“She definitely has a great skillset, and she needs to know that and have confidence in that. She kind of gets down on herself, and just like we tell all the girls, you have to have the memory of a goldfish,” Harding said. “She just lasered that ball, and that’s huge for her. That builds up the bottom half of our lineup.”
North Thurston scored five more runs in the sixth, including an RBI double by Haagen and a two-run single by Halterman. Syriahs Trolson earned a season-high fourth hit of the day on an RBI single to left field. She pitched five innings and allowed four runs (three earned) on six hits, two walks and three strikeouts before Guyer flashed her high-speed stuff in a successful closing role in the sixth.
“Syri was Syri. She did everything she was supposed to do,” Harding said. “Day by day and game by game, she is just getting stronger and stronger. I love seeing it. And then Paige comes in and just throws fireballs. From top to bottom, our lineup has really bought into being aggressive at the plate, being aggressive after their pitches and staying in their zone. I could not be more proud of how the girls played today.”
Olympia head coach Drew Wellner admitted that the ruthless five-game schedule has his team mentally exhausted but didn’t use that as a reason for the Bears’ defeat.
“They just need to adapt. There’s no excuse for it. We just saw a change-of-speed pitcher that we couldn’t adjust to,” Wellner said, referring to Syriahs Trolson. “That’s a tough one to not be able to make those adjustments, but hopefully they can bounce back tomorrow.”
Olympia (6-10, 6-6 South Puget Sound League) finishes its long week with a home game against the SPSL’s top team in Graham-Kapowsin (15-1, 12-0 SPSL) Friday afternoon. North Thurston (7-5, 4-4 Puget Sound League) will look to keep rolling against Bellarmine (7-6, 6-4 PSL) at home Friday.
