Redmond senior pitcher Erika Hendron, who guided the Mustangs’ fastpitch team to a third place finish at the Class 4A state tournament last spring, looked like a battle-tested veteran when she took the mound Wednesday night against defending state champion Eastlake.

And she pitched like one, too.

Hendron struck out the first 13 Wolves that came to the plate during the Mustangs’ home opener en route to a 3-0 shutout in the 4A Kingco contest.

“Erika was pretty key,” said Redmond fastpitch head coach Pat Frable. “She threw a great game, and Eastlake has a young club, but they really battled and played hard.”

UPROOTING A RIVAL

Hendron, who handcuffed the Wolves with excellent location on her fastball, got just enough run support to earn the win.

Both teams were hitless in the first two innings until the Mustangs broke through in the bottom of the third against sophomore starter Nicole Guptil, stringing together three straight hits to manufacture two runs.

Speedy outfielder Riley Flynn beat out a grounder for an infield hit, and then stole second, followed by Lindsay Cristobal’s long double to deep center which scored Flynn. Then leadoff hitter Stephanie Gero, a last-minute replacement for Baily Mullins at second base, slapped an RBI single to center to give Redmond a 2-0 lead.

Catcher Paige Mullins padded the lead in the sixth with a single down the right field line that scored outfielder Maria Reisinger, who led off the inning with a hit to left-center.

“We had flashes of some pretty good at-bats,” Frable said. “I think that we hit the ball hard, sometimes right at people.”

Things got interesting with two outs in the seventh inning as the Mustang defense struggled to close out the game. Redmond committed two consecutive errors — four total in the game — to bring the tying run to the plate.

Unfazed, Hendron calmly struck out Kathryne Staudinger for the third time to seal the win.

“Eastlake’s our rival, so it’s always a big game when we play them,” said Hendron, who struck out 15, improved to 2-0 and kept her league ERA at zero. “They lost most of their seniors… but it was a good one.”

Hendron’s bid for a no-no ended in the sixth when nine-hole batter Serena Norris stroked a single to left.

EARLY ADJUSTMENTS

Although the Mustangs came away with the win, they seemed to struggle against Eastlake’s offspeed offerings the whole game, managing just five hits.

“Their pitcher gave us some problems at times, she did a good job throwing the breaking ball away and we struggled with that,” admitted Frable, a first-year head coach. “We didn’t make really good adjustments. But it’s still early (in the season).”

Thankfully, Hendron’s dominance will allow the veteran Mustangs to find their groove at the plate and hopefully peak at the right time in their effort to better their third-place finish at last May’s state tournament.

“I have a lot of confidence in this team,” Hendron said. “The players behind me are awesome.”

Up next for the Mustangs (2-0, 3-0) will be a pair of nonleague games, the first being at Juanita on Friday night at 4:30. The Mustangs will then face the reigning 2A state champion Othello Huskies on Saturday at noon at the UW Softball Stadium.