Fenumiai tames Crimson Bears in Falcons’ softball win

As the game hung in the balance, Thunder Mountain High School’s Nina Fenumiai didn’t flinch.

With the bases loaded in the bottom of the fifth inning Friday night against Juneau-Douglas High School, the sophomore hurler came back from a 2-0 count to strike out Elisa Fabrello and keep the score tied at six-all.

“I learned from my older sister Taylor Beardslee that when you’re struggling to just calm down, take a … few seconds, and breathe,” Fenumiai said. “And that’s what I did.”

Aside from a shaky fifth inning, Fenumiai followed TMHS coach Brittany Gladsjo’s orders when she subbed her for Kyra Jenkins Hayes.

“She told me to go get them, and just attack,” Fenumiai said.

In a little over four innings of work, the right-hander struck out four and didn’t allow a single hit as the Falcons won 8-6 over the Crimson Bears in a conference game at Melvin Park.

Leah Spargo pitched three and 1/3 innings in relief, allowing just one hit while striking out three.

After the Falcons jumped on JDHS’ Mia Loree with three runs in the first inning, the Crimson Bears repaid the favor. Junior Abby Meiners singled on her first trip to the plate, beginning a three-run rally that tied the game going into the second inning.

“We were all playing together really well as a team and we were all just super hyped up,” Meiners said.

After Spargo replaced Loree in the fourth inning with her team leading 4-3, Falcons’ Hayleigh DeCarlo singled to right field and quickly stole second base. Spargo walked Maxi Saceda Hurt before getting on track with back-t0-back strike outs.

Jenkins Hayes hit a grounder to Sami Good, who couldn’t prevent DeCarlo from scoring. Good fumbled a routine grounder, but redeemed herself as Saceda Hurt, a little too eager to score the go-ahead run, got caught in between third base and home plate. She was tagged by Skylar Hickok at home and the score would remain at 5-5.

After a scoreless fifth inning, Saceda Hurt doubled to right-center field to score the Rachel Macaulay in the sixth.

TMHS would add one more run in the seventh while Fenumiai made quick work of the Crimson Bears in the final two innings.

“They are all really good hitters, so if you pitch it straight down the middle, they’ll hit it,” Fenumiai said, “but if you hit the corners, it will be a lot harder for them.”

Still, Meiners was happy with JDHS’ resiliency even in the last innings.

“We played a full seven innings really well. … Sometimes we would give up in previous years, but I think this year that is one of our biggest strength — we keep going and push through the full seven innings. Even in Sitka, we played through nine,” she said.

 

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• Contact sports reporter Nolin Ainsworth at 523-2272 or nolin.ainsworth@juneauempire.com.

 

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