POULSBO — Once again, it was a pitcher’s duel. And once more, Heather Case came out on top.

The senior Vikings pitcher went the distance versus the Roughriders of Port Angeles, giving up only two hits, striking out seven and allowing no walks in NK’s 3-0 win Wednesday.

“She pitched an impeccable game,” said Vikings coach Dan Kolda. “She was able to make some changes to shut them down.”

Case will be the first one to tell you that she certainly didn’t win the game on her own.

“I got a lot of support — my team backs me up 100 percent,” Case said. “I know that I have their support out there and in the dugout. We’re a big family.”

Coming up with that support at the plate was fellow senior Brenda Stice, who went two-for-three, both hits of which were lead-off doubles in the innings North scored its runs.

Stice said that she’s been working hard with coach Kolda to improve her ability to hit the ball in the opposite direction. Frustrated after striking out in her first at-bat, Stice hammered a double in the fourth inning almost to dead-center field.

“I tend to pull the ball,” Stice said. “I was so excited when I got the hit that when I got to third I said, ‘Coach, I did it!’”

NK senior third baseman Jamie Heins brought Stice home on a double to score the first run of the game.

In the sixth, Stice ripped the ball up the left-field line for another double and Case followed with a single. A passed ball scored Stice and a sacrifice bunt by Heins scored NK junior Chrystal Camus, who was Case’s base-runner.

“(The game) was a difference of about three hits,” said Port Angeles coach Renee Lancaster. “Their big guns turned on the ball and our big guns didn’t.”

Lancaster’s team also faced some overwhelming adversity on the day: Port Angeles’ top pitcher Megan Ramsey broke two fingers in the game when she was struck by one of Case’s pitches in the third inning.

“It’s unfortunate in a big way,” Lancaster said. Her team now lies in a pack of Narrows League teams at 3-1 in league and 5-4 overall.

She went onto say that the Lady Roughriders will have some tricks up their sleeves when North comes to town May 3.

“I have a few ideas,” Lancaster said.

North Kitsap, now 4-0 in league and 8-1 overall, has scored 42 runs in its nine games while giving up only 12. Its lone loss — a 3-1 non-league affair at Sequim — has actually worked out for the better, coach Kolda said.

“We refer to (the loss) regularly in a positive aspect — it keeps us humble,” Kolda commented. “I’d much rather have that loss than to be undefeated.”

Stice said the team has gained both confidence in its victories and humility in its loss.

“We’re really intense but we’re humble at the same time,” Stice said. “We know our potential and we know we could go to state. And we know we could do very well there.”

“It’s fun to watch (North Kitsap) get better inning by inning, game by game,” Kolda added.