FERNDALE — It takes 21 outs to get through a seven-inning high school softball game. Squalicum pitcher Regan Andersen recorded 19 of those outs via strikeout in a 3-0 win Wednesday against Ferndale.
Andersen’s dominant evening in the circle started and ended with a strikeout in the complete game shutout.
Despite striking out 90% of Ferndale’s hitters, Andersen said she doesn’t pitch for strikeouts.
“It’s always just to beat the batter,” Andersen said of her approach. “It’s to beat them in any way I can. My teammates getting the out is the exact same as me getting the out. All that matters is what the team can do together.”
The Storm struck in the top of the first inning when Jasmine Meyer connected for an RBI double, scoring Liv Paoli. Meyer later stole home to give Squalicum a 2-0 lead before Ferndale even had its first chance at the plate.
From then on, it was all Andersen and Squalicum. Andersen rolled through the Golden Eagles’ lineup. She didn’t have to pitch with multiple runners on until the fourth inning, but was able to find a way out of trouble anyway.
Andersen was quick to give credit to her catcher, Paoli, for the way she called the game behind the dish.
“Pitchers get a lot of credit a lot of the time, but Liv is super strong back there with the way she calls pitches,” Andersen said. “We know each other very well, and I always appreciate the work she does.”
Paoli said even with runners on, she and Andersen are both worried about the hitter instead.
“I keep the runners in the back of my mind,” Paoli said. “I’m focusing on the batter, and the runners come second.”
The Storm were able to add an insurance run off the bat of Meyer, who brought in Paoli again on an RBI single in the top of the sixth inning.
It was business as usual for Andersen in the last two innings as she struck out four of her last six batters to give the Storm their third win of the season.
Squalicum head coach Amy Anderson said Andersen and Paoli keep the team in every single game.
“It was an unbelievable performance,” Anderson said. “Every day I can count on them to do their thing.”
Outside of the heroics by Andersen and Paoli, the rest of the Storm played a huge part in a different way. Down three starters, Squalicum had everyone except Andersen and Paoli playing their first positions.
Andersen called it a true team win.
Without a junior varsity team this year, Anderson said this year’s squad is a blended team, and they’ve gone through the highs and lows of that.
“Half of our team is what I would call a standard varsity player and half of our team literally have never played before,” Anderson said. “We’re building players and watching them develop and perform.”
Squalicum improves to 3-6 with the win. Next, the team plays at home at 5 p.m. Monday against Lynden.
Ferndale drops to 1-4 and will travel to Lakewood tomorrow for a 4:30 p.m. game.