Dusty Anchors has never coached a group of sluggers before.

But with a change in weather, and a few hot bats, that’s changed in 2011. If only the wins followed.

The Olympic High School head coach watched his squad rack up at least five runs in four of seven league games this season, sporting a 3-4 record during that stretch. The Trojans are 4-4 overall heading into their games with Port Townsend and North Mason high schools this week.

While its hitting has flourished, recording 29 runs in the last four games, Olympic is settled in the middle of the standings. The Trojans trail first-place Port Angeles and Sequim high schools by three games in the Olympic League.

“This is unusual,” said Anchors, who is coaching his third season at Olympic. “I’m proud of our girls, we’re hitting the ball hard right now and that’s great, we just need to improve.”

The culprit for the reoccurring high scores is the cold, rainy weather, Anchors said Monday. The team played its seventh game Monday, a 7-5 home loss against Kingston High School, marking the 13th day spent outside since Feb. 28, he added.

Olympic has totaled 68 hits in its first eight games, a number that’s above average for a school that went 6-14 last year. Spending most days in the gymnasium instead of the muddy fields, is taking a toll on the pitchers and fielders, he said.

“It’s one thing to practice in the gym, and another to do it outside,” he added. “The kids aren’t able to pitch outside right now and you can’t stop anything in the gym as a fielder when the ball bounces off the gym floor, whereas outside, you don’t know where that ball is going.”

The Trojans have allowed 70 runs in their last six contests.

Junior catcher Sydney Thompson said after Monday’s defeat that the team’s offensive performances are a good sign, but that it’s overshadowed by a sluggish defense.

“It’s frustrating because we’re still a little confused out there,” she added. “We just haven’t had a lot of time on the field to work together on defense, so it’s tough right now.”

Senior shortstop Kira Varaday has played varsity for three seasons and said this year’s squad is hitting the best she’s seen. Varaday is having trouble understanding the team’s imbalances.

“I just can’t explain it,” she said. “We swing at the pitches we should be swinging at, and we focus on the pitcher and how everything is shaping up before we step up in the box.”

Varaday, Thompson and the rest of the team have spent most of their two-hour daily practices in the batting cages instead of the fields. Varaday said Monday that the team is working on fundamentals, specifically, dropping their shoulders at the right moment. The senior was caught off guard when her team started the season with a streak of double-digit scores.

“I’m shocked,” she added. “I’m not sure why we’re playing the way we are because I certainly didn’t picture us a super slugging team in the preseason, but we are.”

Olympic, like its neighboring Central Kitsap and Bremerton rivals, is weathering the storm of consistent rainouts this season.

The offense can only carry the team so much, Thompson said, so in order for the Trojans to make a postseason appearance, the defense will need to step up or another losing season may be on the horizon.

“The bottom line is that if you don’t score runs out there and have a defense to help it, you’re not going to win anything,” she added. “Whether the next games are close with hardly any hits or lots of hits, we’ve got to win, so whatever happens is what happens.”