The Yakima Valley softball team got off to a fast start Saturday at Blue Mountain and never slowed down, sweeping the doubleheader by scores of 7-4 and 11-3.
 

In the first inning of game one, the Yaks took a 5-0 first-inning lead behind a two-RBI double by Madalyn Telles, a two-RBI single by Abbygale Sheridan and a two-run homer by Riley Eckhardt. Kassidy Van Soest and Addison Flynn added RBI singles in the sixth and seventh and Sheridan went 3-for-4 as the Yaks' offense racked up 15 hits. Van Soest went the distance in the circle, allowing four runs and 12 hits while striking out five. 
 

YVC (4-8 NWAC East, 10-18 overall) also grabbed a 5-0 lead early in game two on a pair of Kylee Bradley home runs — the second, a three-run blast in the third inning. Cheyenne Justice and Sheridan added RBI singles later in the game to lead the Yaks' 13-hit attack. Bradley finished 3-for-4 with six RBI, while Sheridan, Telles and Justice delivered two hits apiece. Kathryn Prest pitched the first 4 2/3, allowing eight hits and three runs, and Van Soest finished it out, allowing three hits and striking out four over 2 1/3 innings.
 

The Yaks were unable to keep pace with Treasure Valley earlier in the week, falling by scores of 6-4 and 11-3. YVC took an early 2-0 lead in game one on an RBI double and sac fly by Flynn. The Chukars tied it up in the third and scored four more in the fourth before Bradley and Sheridan added RBI hits in the sixth to keep it close. Telles and Eckhardt each picked up two of the Yaks' eight hits. Van Soest struck out four, but she allowed four walks and seven hits to suffer the loss.
 

In game two, the Chukars scored three in the second and fourth innings and four more in the fifth, taking advantage of six YVC errors. Bradley hit another home run, going 2-for-3, and Telles finished 3-for-3, but it wasn't enough. Prest allowed six hits and two earned runs in 3 1/3 innings, striking out three, while Arissa LeBaron struggled in relief, giving up five earned runs, five hits and three walks in one inning of work. 
 

YVC returns to non-league action next weekend at Yakima's Kiwanis Park for the NWAC Crossover tournament before returning to region play the following week.