If the cold and windy conditions weren’t enough, Mountlake Terrace Hawks’ starting pitcher Kierra Scott also had to deal with rainfall as she took the mound Tuesday in the Hawks’ match-up with the Stanwood Spartans.

“It was hard to adjust when the rain started coming down,” the sophomore said. “But everyone cheered me on, encouraging me to do it.”

Scott battled through the weather and put together her best pitching performance of the year as the Hawks defeated Stanwood 14-1 in the mercy-rule shortened Wesco League contested played at Mountlake Terrace High School.

Scott gave up just one hit, no earned runs and struck out six Spartans in her five innings of work.

Scott also had a great day at the plate, batting 3-for-4 with a double and four RBI’s in the contest.

Terrace Coach Shannon Rasmussen moved Scott up in the batting lineup a couple weeks ago to bat second behind leadoff hitter Jenna Maxfield – the change has benefitted the sophomore well.

“At the beginning of the season I was struggling a little bit,” Scott said. “Then I got moved up in the lineup and I started hitting good.”

The entire Terrace lineup looked good with the bat on Tuesday – the Hawks pounded out 14 hits against Stanwood pitchers Emma Tuffey and Michaela Moffett, including seven extra base hits. Maxfield had two doubles; Scott, Jamie Bingaman and Sammy Ruiz doubled; Jazz Zenk tripled and Ruiz added a solo home run.

With the victory, Terrace evened its overall record to 6-6. The 2A team’s six losses – all to 4A and 3A squads – have been to teams with a combined record of 45-16.

While the Hawks’ record is only at .500, Scott isn’t concerned as she feels the losses to bigger schools only makes her squad stronger.

“Facing teams like Lake Stevens and Snohomish in the regular season gets us more prepared for what’s going to come when the playoffs come, she said.

Terrace still has eight regular season games to be played before the postseason begins next month. The Hawks will next face the Arlington Eagles on Wednesday, April 18; first pitch at Arlington High School is slated for 4 p.m.

Prep Softball: Stanwood at Mountlake Terrace, April 17

Stanwood    1   0 0     0 0 x    x — 1      1 3
Terrace       3   8 1     2 x x    x — 14   14 2

Winning pitcher: Kierra Scott (Mountlake Terrace)

Losing pitcher: Emma Tuffey (Stanwood)

Records: Mountlake Terrace 5-4 in 2A/3A Wesco League South Conference, 6-6 overall; Stanwood 1-9 in 3A Wesco League North Conference, 1-11 overall

Mountlake Terrace next game: versus Arlington, Wednesday, April 18, 4 p.m. at Arlington High School

–By Doug Petrowski