By Quint Turner

Meadowdale continued its week of four games in four days by winning the third against the Shorewood Thunderbirds Wednesday 10-0 in the fifth inning.

So far, in the first three games, the team has scored 34 runs, and has won each game by at least 10. They certainly picked a great time to fire on all cylinders, as district playoffs begin next week. Lindsey Milner hit a three-run home run and also hit the double that scored Rebecca Wright from third to put the Mavericks up 10-0 and invoke the mercy rule. Alyssa Reuble pitched all five innings for the Mavs, and gave up one hit and threw four strikeouts for the W.

Reuble got the Thunderbirds to go down 1-2-3 in the first to bring up the potent Maverick offense. Shannon Haukap led off with a walk, and Reuble got on base with a tough popup that fell in between the center fielder and second baseman. Milner popped out to the first baseman, and Hailey Costello struck out to make it two on and two out. Haukap and Reuble executed a double steal to put runners on second and third, and two wild pitches were thrown, scoring both on Ashley Brooke’s at bat. She hit a double, and was driven in by Ciarra Hart on a double of her own to make it 3-0 Mavs. Alexa Bickel flew out to end the inning.

Once again, Reuble got the T-Birds to go quietly without a hit in the second. The Mavericks tacked on two more in the second. Tiffany Dewayne led off with a walk, and got to second on a wild pitch. She moved to third when Nicole Steg hit a single. Steg broke for second while Haukap was batting, and when the catcher threw down to second to try and get her out, Dewayne stole home to make it 4-0. And Steg was safe, too. Haukap and Reuble struck out, and there were two outs and a runner on second. Milner hit a fly ball that dropped in right field to score Steg, and Costello walked to try and extend the inning, but Brooke struck out to end the inning. The Mavs went into the third up 5-0.

Reuble struck out the first two batters in the third and then got a ground ball to end the inning. Hart led off the third with a single and moved to second on a wild pitch, but Bickel and Dewayne struck out. Steg came up, and hit a ground ball that bounced off her while she was outside of the batters box, and was called out to end the inning. The T-Birds finally got a hit off of Reuble, a two-out triple, but right after that she induced a strikeout to end the top of the fourth. Three hits in a row earned the Mavericks three runs in the fourth. Haukap and Reuble hit singles to set up a Milner no-doubter over the fence in left field to make it 8-0. The Mavericks were unable to get any more runs and the game moved to the fifth inning.

After a lead-off infield single, Reuble got the T-Birds to go down without any trouble. A fielder’s choice, a strikeout and an easy groundout were all she needed to get to the bottom of the fifth. Dewayne led off the fifth with an infield single, and Wright came in to pinch-hit for Steg, and she walked. Haukap came up and drew a wild pitch that advanced the runners to second and third, and she hit a sacrifice fly to right field to score Dewayne to make it 9-0. Reuble walked right after, and Milner hit a long double off the fence to drive in Wright and clinch the win, 10-0.

With the win, the Mavericks go to 11-5 (12-6 overall), and are tied for second with Lynnwood in the district standings. They play next Thursday at 4 p.m., at home against Edmonds-Woodway.

Sports correspondent Quint Turner is a sophomore at Meadowdale High School.