The Lakers and Mavericks traded zeroes.

Batter after batter and inning after inning, the Lake Oswego and Mountainside softball teams went after each other – and hard.

But the Mavericks broke through to score the game’s first run in the bottom of the fifth, then poured across five more in the bottom of the sixth to beat the Lakers 6-0 at Mountainside High School on Wednesday, April 9.

“We just stuck with it the whole game,” said Mountainside senior catcher Aubri Kruhm, who went 2 for 3 at the plate. “It was 0-0 for a while and then we got one run and then we just broke free the last inning. We kept our heads in the game and all our team just came together.”

“As a team, it was just really great,” said Maverick junior shortstop Natalie Kawaguchi, who went 2 for 4 with three RBIs. “Right now, we’re just gaining momentum and I think that each day we come out and we do a lot better.”

In addition to their efforts, junior pinch hitter Kaila Reyes went 2 for 2 and scored once; and sophomore pitcher Jojo Appling got the win after throwing 3-1/3 innings, allowing no runs on two hits and one walk while striking out four; Appling also went 1 for 1 at the plate with two RBIs.

With the win, Mountainside’s second straight time and fourth in its past five games to improve to 5-5 overall.

Lake Oswego, meanwhile, saw its six-game winning streak snapped and fell to 7-3 overall. Next up, the Lakers will host McMinnville in non-league play at Lake Oswego Junior High at 6:45 p.m. Friday, April 11.

Lake Oswego was led by senior first baseman Macy Maxwell, who went 1 for 3 at the plate, and freshman catcher Sloane Morris, who also went 1 for 3 at the plate.

Both of the day’s starting pitchers – Lake Oswego junior Ava Beach and Mountainside junior Skylar Hins – held the upper hand early. Beach opened the game with four scoreless innings where she allowed just one hit and two walks, while stranding four base runners. Hins, meanwhile, shut out LO for 3-2/3 innings on no hits and five walks while stranding five.

But Mountainside broke through in its half of the fifth, getting a one-out single to center by Reyes, a stolen base, and with two outs, an RBI single up the middle by Kawaguchi for a 1-0 lead.

The Lakers tried to answer in the sixth with a leadoff single by Maxwell, and after one out, a double to right-center by Morris. But Maverick center fielder Avery Gaoiran threw home to Kruhm and she relayed the ball back to senior Sarina Douglas to cut down Maxwell at third.

Then, with two outs, Morris stole second, sophomore Sydney Perlewitz walked and sophomore Keara Daugherty hit a sinking line drive to right field – only to see Mountainside freshman right fielder Alix Penning make a diving catch to preserve her team’s shutout.

Finally, in the bottom of the sixth, the Mavericks sent nine batters to the plate, banged out five hits and scored five runs, an at-bat highlighted by Appling’s two-run single down the right-field line and Kawaguchi’s two-run double to center field.

“We kind of figured out what the strike zone was and what the pitcher was throwing and we just worked on what she was doing and figured out how to get the ball in play,” Kruhm said.

“I think our team chemistry is really building from all these games so I think we have a really great chance to keep on building it,” Kawaguchi said.