DUVALL – Sophomore Danielle Brittain led the Cedarcrest fastpitch softball team to a 2-1 victory over Mercer Island last Tuesday at its home field. Brittain pitched all seven innings and only allowed one run and two hits. She threw six strikeouts.

The team is now 3-3 in league and 4-4 overall, said coach Mandy Johnson. This is an improvement over last year’s disappointing season record of 4-14, and the team is only halfway though the season.

Mercer Island’s first and only run of the game came in the first inning. Brittain struck out the first batter, walked the second and allowed a single off the third, but then catcher Whitney Short allowed a ball to pass and the runners on first and second stole second and third. With one out on the board, the fourth batter connected with a pitch and the third-base runner scored.

In the bottom of the first, the Red Wolves’ Stacie Lousberg singled and advanced to second base on a hit by Brittain, who was thrown out at first. On a subsequent pitch, Lousberg stole third. Then Short advanced to first on a walk and Lousberg came home.

Katelyn Schnaible hit a single, Short went to second and shortly thereafter stole third. Then Short slid home, scoring the second run, when the Mercer Island catcher dropped a pitch.

In the same inning, Dorothy Westermann had a hit into left field, but Mercer Island caught it for the second out. Schnaible stole second base, Kora Jensen went to first on a walk, and then Christine Harder was struck out. The score at the end of the inning was 2-1 in favor of Cedarcrest.

In the top of of the second, the Islanders went 1-2-3 again as Brittain struck out the first Mercer Island batter. Lousberg caught a fly ball in right field and Brittain struck out the third batter.

The Red Wolves didn’t score any more runs in the bottom of the second inning, but they didn’t give up any either when Mercer Island came to bat in the third. In the bottom of the third, Schnaible hit a pop fly that was caught by the Mercer Island catcher. Westermann singled to left field and stole second before Kora Jensen struck out. Westermann was tagged out at third base and Christine Harder struck out.

In the top of the fourth, Cedarcrest made the throw to first in time to get the first batter out, then made a double play on the third batter’s hit to the shortstop.

Brittain struck out the first batter in the fifth inning and made the throw to first in time when the second batter bunted. She then struck out the third batter.

Mercer Island reciprocated in the bottom of the fifth when Brittain hit a foul ball that was caught by the first baseman. Short was thrown out at first and Schnaible struck out.

The teams’ next at-bats featured another series of quick 1-2-3 outs. In the top of the seventh inning, Cedarcrest sealed the win when Short caught a fly ball for the first out, and followed that effort with a throw to first to get the second batter out. Brittain ended the game with another strikeout.

Cedarcrest plays at 4 p.m. today against Newport at home.