After putting 14 runs on the scoreboard Tuesday, the Mountlake Terrace Hawks kept their bats hot on Wednesday, scoring 11 runs in the first inning and ultimately defeating the undermanned Lynnwood Royals 18-1 in five innings at Mountlake Terrace High School.

Every Hawk in the starting lineup scored at least once in the team’s first inning, with freshman Julia Brocksmith supplying the big blow, a grand slam home run.

Terrace’s Ashley Fitzgerald had four RBI’s in a 3-for-4 performance on Wednesday; teammate Kira Doan went 4-for-4, scored four runs and had an RBI in the victory.

With the win the Hawks are now 3-1 in Wesco League South Conference play, 5-1 overall. The Royals dropped to 1-2 in conference play, 2-3 overall.

“Everyone, batters one-through-nine, just come out ready to jump on the ball,” Terrace Coach Shannon Rasmussen said of her squad’s ability to score runs. “They’re just making solid contact.”

Terrace’s Sammy Ruiz earned the win on the mound by giving up just three hits and four walks in the mercy-rule shortened game. The sophomore recorded 12 strikeouts over the five innings pitched.

“She’s got a lot of movement and spin on her ball, so as much as she throws really hard she can also make the ball move,” Rasmussen noted of Ruiz mound work. “She can place it usually where she wants it.”

“I think she brings a lot to the table when she’s up pitching and you don’t know what you’re going to get (as a batter),” Rasmussen added.

Lynnwood Coach Sara Hall put the loss into perspective, noting that her squad was down a number of players due to various injuries. The team’s top pitcher, Dasia Lester, injured a wrist while snowboarding before the softball season started and isn’t ready to play yet; first baseman Megan Baker is unavailable because of a knee injury suffered in the season opener on March 18.

“We had girls that stepped up into different positions then they’re used to, (and) one’s that probably wouldn’t have been playing because they are recovering from an injury,” she explained.

Sophomore Kaileigh Harthun, who usually roams the outfield, played some innings at first base while she recovers from off-season surgery.

Lynnwood’s Maddie Morgan was called upon to start Wednesday’s game on the mound but had to be removed after she suffered a possible concussion in the second inning when she collided with teammates as they were going after a pop-up.

Despite the crushing defeat, Hall felt some good could come from the experience of pulling together during a challenging game. “It’s a way for them to, again, remind each other that it’s about your teammates and not just yourself,” she said. “We’re trying to have a ‘she-first,’ not ‘me-first’ attitude on our team, and I think games like this can help with that even though they’re ugly.”

The Royals will have to lick their wounds quickly as they have to hit the road again on Thursday, March 31, to face the Shorewood T-Birds’ team in Shoreline, which hasn’t won a game yet this season. Terrace will also travel for their next game, a Friday, April 1 matchup with the Glacier Peak Grizzlies.

In other Mountlake Terrace sports action on Wednesday, Hawk Kendall Yackley went 2-for-3 with an RBI but it wasn’t enough as the Terrace baseball team fell to Glacier Peak 3-2 at Glacier Peak High School. The Terrace girls tennis team was also defeated at GP, losing to the Grizzlies 5-2. The girls golf team dropped their match to Edmonds-Woodway 243-318 at the Nile Golf Course in Mountlake Terrace.

Prep Softball: Lynnwood at Mountlake Terrace, March 30

Lynnwood       0   0   0     0   1     —       1     3   1
Terrace           11   5   2     0   x     —     18   16   2

Winning pitcher: Sammy Ruiz (Mountlake Terrace)
Losing pitcher: Maddie Morgan (Lynnwood)

Records: Lynnwood 1-2 in Wesco League South Conference, 2-3 overall; Mountlake Terrace 3-1 in Wesco League South Conference, 5-1 overall

Lynnwood next game: versus Shorewood, Thursday, March 31, 4 p.m. at Meridian Park in Shoreline

Mountlake Terrace next game: versus Glacier Peak, Friday, April 1, 4 p.m. at Glacier Peak High School

Prep Baseball: Mountlake Terrace at Glacier Peak, March 30

Terrace           1   0   1     0   0   0     0     —     2   7   2
Glacier Peak 0   1   1     0   1   0     x     —     3   9   0

Winning pitcher: Cam Wendlandt (Glacier Peak)
Losing pitcher: Tom Bennett (Mountlake Terrace)

Records: Mountlake Terrace 0-6 in Wesco League South Conference, 1-7 overall; Glacier Peak 5-1 in Wesco League South Conference, 6-1 overall

Mountlake Terrace next game: versus Glacier Peak, Friday, April 1, 4 p.m. at Mountlake Terrace High School

Prep Girls Tennis: Mountlake Terrace at Glacier Peak, March 30

Glacier Peak 5 — Mountlake Terrace 2

Singles: Tina Liu (Mountlake Terrace) defeated Madeline Mahler (Glacier Peak) 3-6, 6-0, 6-2; Michele Baldini (Glacier Peak) defeated Ayanna Traylor (Mountlake Terrace) 6-0, 6-1; Katherine Geiger (Glacier Peak) defeated Brianna Tran (Mountlake Terrace) 6-1, 6-0; Kristina Shatalova (Mountlake Terrace) defeated Kaitlyn Nguyen (Glacier Peak) 3-6, 7-5, 6-4

Doubles: Anna Sneesby / Marissa Johnson (Glacier Peak) defeated Lisa Fernandez / Stefiana Roesli (Mountlake Terrace) 6-0, 6-0; Micah Flood / Issy Koehler (Glacier Peak) defeated Lauren Lee / Ruthie Little (Mountlake Terrace) 6-0, 6-0; McKenna Kelly / Emma Riddle (Glacier Peak) defeated Nina Berry / Ryan Berry (Mountlake Terrace) 6-1, 6-0

Records: Mountlake Terrace 0-2 in Wesco League South Conference, 0-7 overall; Glacier Peak 3-0 in Wesco League South Conference, 6-0 overall

Mountlake Terrace next match: versus Lynnwood, Friday, April 1, 3:30 p.m. at Mountlake Terrace High School

Prep Girls Golf: Mountlake Terrace at Edmonds-Woodway, March 30 (Nile Golf Course, nine holes, par 34)

Edmonds-Woodway 243 — Mountlake Terrace 318

Top individual scorers: Frances Monahan (Edmonds-Woodway) 42; Savannah Kaczorowski (Mountlake Terrace) 49

–Story and photos by Doug Petrowski