The Buccaneers’ offense struggled to get anything going against the Trojans’ pitching, as Kingston fell to Olympic 5-1 April 14 at the Kitsap County Fairgrounds in a battle of two of the top teams in the Olympic League.

The Bucs dropped to 4-2 in league and 6-4 overall, while the Trojans sit in second place at 5-1 in league and 9-1 overall.

Olympic pitcher Brenda Morrison started and finished the game for the Trojans, giving up only two hits to the Kingston lineup.

“She’s the best pitcher [in the Olympic League] by a long shot,” Buccaneer starting pitcher Summer Moore said. “She’s really good at getting in your head with the mix of pitches she has.”

Neither team could get their bats going in the first inning, with Morrison letting up one hit and Moore forcing three outs from the first three Olympic batters.

The Buc offense managed to get Peyton Miller and Cadence Robles on base via a walk and an error. Trojan Sophia Brown hit a deep double to center field with one out, allowing Olympic to get into scoring position. However, the Bucs were able to escape the top half of the inning by forcing a pop-out to first base.

An errant pitch from Morrison allowed Buc Abi Waag to advance into scoring position, giving Kingston their first scoring opportunity of the game. Senior Tegan Stanford scored Waag off a deep double to left field and was able to advance to third base off a Trojan error in the infield, giving the Bucs a 1-0 lead in the third inning.

Trojan Kennedy Haas responded to the Kingston score by hitting a two-run home run in the bottom of the third, giving Olympic the 2-1 lead.

“I was aiming for a base hit, but I got a home run, thankfully,” Haas said. “I tried to encourage my team to just get base hits and get through the inning.”

Morrison forced three quick outs in the top of the fifth, and Moore did the same in the bottom of the inning.

Haas continued her strong day, getting a hit to left field. Morrison followed suit, hitting a single to left field and advancing to second. Beya Richmond had the biggest swing of the game, a deep three-run home run that pushed Olympic’s lead to 5-1 in the bottom of the fifth.

Morrison forced another three quick outs, ending any comeback chances for the Bucs in the top of the sixth. Moore rebounded once again and generated another three quick outs for Kingston, giving them one more half-inning to make a comeback, which ultimately fell short.

“We thought it was going to be an easy win, but they [Kingston] showed it was going to be a lot harder than it should have been,” Richmond said.