The Fifth Quarter

The Tomahawk soccer team huddles for a pre-game pep talk.

Today marks the first day I take up blogging to supplement sports coverage in The Marysville Globe and The Arlington Times, and after yesterday’s games, I couldn’t think of a better way to start.

With a slow Monday, yesterday kicked off the week in coverage for me. Arlington softball played undefeated Stanwood for the second time this season, the Eagles’ only loss coming to Stanwood 2-0 at the beginning of the league calendar. Senior Christina Rayner pitched for Arlington, while the Eagle batters saw Stanwood ace Brittany Jeans this time, unlike their first game featuring Corinne Stillman.

Interestingly, the games had a similar outcome — Stillman had the game-winning RBIs for the Spartans. Arlington is still one of the best teams in the league, able to get hits when they need them and solid on defense. My only doubt about yesterday’s game was the decision to use a designated player in Rayner’s slot after the pitcher was 3-for-4 at bat against Lake Stevens the week before. She entered the batting order in the seventh inning but struck out against Jeans.

The late game was undefeated Marysville-Pilchuck (10-0-2) against Snohomish (10-2-1). The Tomahawks have moved up the state polls by virtue of their record, but by pulling out a 5-3 victory (following a 2-2 draw in their first go this season), M-P appears to be in control of their league destiny. Furthermore, they won against a top team despite the fact that all three Snohomish goals appeared to be the result of defensive lapses, which could be easily fixed.

The key for this Tomahawk team is to keep their work ethic up and stay humble.

“Sometimes they come in thinking talent is enough,” said coach Geoff Kittle.

Senior Seth Jones had a hat trick for M-P while junior forward John Crenshaw scored two.