A two run deficit in the second inning didn’t effect the psyche of the Issaquah Eagles softball team against its biggest rival.

Skyline freshman Nadia Ramirez blasted a two-run homer to left field in the top of the second, giving Skyline a 2-0 lead. The Eagles responded with four runs in the bottom of the second and never looked back in a convincing 15-4 win in just five innings on May 11 at Issaquah High School. The Eagles (15-3) ended the game when Sydney Schultz connected on a three-run home-run in the bottom of the fifth. The game concluded after Schultz’s blast because of the 10-run rule.

“I hadn’t been hitting the ball very well the past couple of games. I’m glad I finally squared one up,” Schultz said. “It felt pretty good. It happened to be really timely.”

Eagles’ head coach Ron Hatlen said his team’s bats usually heat up the second time they’ve been through the lineup.

“All year long its been the third, fourth, fifth and sixth inning where we get our runs,” Hatlen said. “Sometimes it just takes a little bit of time. It seems like we have to get down a little bit before we decide to get it going. We never give up and that is the kind of team we have been all year long.”

Issaquah pitcher Winter Ridgeway went the distance, allowing nine hits and four runs in five innings in the pitching circle. Ridgeway said the Eagles never panic when facing an early game deficit.

“We know the game isn’t over until its over. Even though they got up with a home-run, we know we’re going to start hitting the ball and keep ourselves in the game,” she said. “We always keep a positive mentality and play every game the same exact way.”

Hatlen said the Eagles have adopted Seattle Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson’s mentality of going 1-0 in every game whenever they take the field.

“We went 1-0 today and that’s it,” Hatlen said. “We’re back to 0-0 in our next game. We’re really focused on playing at a championship level no matter who we are playing. That is how we play. We put pressure on other teams and we can hit the ball 1 through 9 (lineup).”

Schultz said the Eagles softball program is back on the rise.

“We haven’t had a winning record like this in a long time. It’s really great to give Issaquah that softball reputation like we used to have once again,” Schultz said. “This is a really big season for us. We haven’t had team chemistry like this in awhile. We’re really excited about the playoffs.”

Shaun Scott: 425-453-5045; sscott@soundpublishing.com