Rich Rautenstrauch/Chieftain Cubs senior catcher Anna Rinehart tosses the ball to first base Friday afternoon while playing the Umatilla Vikings at Jensen Fields in Enterprise.

Last week the Wallowa County Cubs traveled to Weston on Tuesday and lost that non-league game 15-6, but on Friday, at home, the girls won both ends of a doubleheader against the Umatilla Vikings, a league opponent. The winning scores were lopsided: 16-1 in the opener and 19-0 in the nightcap.

The Cubs’ overall record is now 7-3, and their league mark is even better at 5-1.

Playing April 14 against the Weston-McEwen/Griswold, team coach Cliff Conrad said his girls faced a pretty good pitcher, but the game went the full seven innings. Conrad added, “I was proud of them for not giving up.”

The Cubs were down 15-1 in the top of the sixth when they rallied for five runs. Darby Gassett led off with a double, Macey Frei singled, and Kristyn Young also reached base before Anna Rinehart stroked a double. The Cubs also drew a walk that inning. The late rally was enough to avoid triggering the 10-run rule, so the game went the distance.

Natalie Williams, the Cubs’ starting pitcher, endured the bulk of Weston-McEwen’s offensive attack. She was eventually relieved by Madison Plew, who shut out the home team for the final three innings.

In Friday’s doubleheader with Umatilla, it wasn’t as if the Cubs were smashing the ball to score their runs. It was more of a walk fest. In the second game Cubs batters were issued 18 free passes as they scored their 19 runs.

One of Friday’s highlights was Cubs batter Macey Frei swinging at a ball practically over her head. One of the coaches asked her what she was doing and she replied that she just wanted to hit the ball. The coach then said, “Maybe you should jump a little higher next time.” Everybody in the Cubs’ dugout got quite a chuckle out of it.

Plew pitched solidly for a game and a half Friday with Darby Gassett coming on in relief in the second game. Plew had six strikeouts in the first game, and Gassett recorded three in the nightcap.

The Cubs only had one error in the first game and none in the second.

The local softball team’s season continues this Friday with a doubleheader on the road against the Riverside Arlington Pirates.