The River Ridge softball team fell in fewer than seven innings for the third straight game against Central Kitsap, losing 12-2 in five innings in Silverdale Monday.
The Hawks have been outscored 47-8 over the past three games against three of the best teams in the Puget Sound League in Peninsula, Gig Harbor and Central Kitsap.
Junior pitcher Raylie Birklid and the Hawks defense struggled to get outs in the first inning. The Cougars compiled six runs in the first frame, including one on an error and three from a triple by Kaylie Stacy.
Meanwhile, Ari Linder pitched three perfect innings for Central Kitsap before River Ridge earned its first hit off the bat of Jacklyn Holcomb on the first pitch of the fourth inning. Birklid drove her in with a first-pitch double to put the Hawks on the scoreboard. On another one-pitch at bat, Jaylah Sok-Vandergriff hit an RBI triple standing up to bring the Hawks within four.
Central Kitsap tallied three runs in the fourth and three in the fifth to put the game away. Sok-Vandergriff made her season debut in the circle for the Hawks in the fifth inning, but she could only get one out before the Cougars reached the run-rule mark.
River Ridge (3-6, 3-4 Puget Sound League) faces another challenge when Bellarmine (6-4, 5-2 Puget Sound League) comes to the Regional Athletic Complex Wednesday afternoon.
