On Tuesday April 28th, at 4 p.m. the Paly softball team defeated Gunderson High School 11-0 in 5 innings of play. The game ended when the “Mercy Rule” was enacted. The mercy rule states that in high school softball, if a team is up by either 15 runs total or 10 runs by the time 5 innings have been played, then the game ends. Tuesday’s game was also a perfect game for Paly pitcher Mackenzie Glassford (’17), who had 5 strikeouts.

The tops of the innings were quick, with three outs from the Lady Vikes and no runners on base for the Gunderson Grizzlies. Outflielder Maddy Jones (’15) noted the role of the defense in the team’s success against the Grizzlies.

“[During] today’s game we were really able to showcase what we’ve learned throughout this season,” Jones said. “We had a clean defense, with Mackenzie pitching a perfect game.”

In the bottom of the first inning, hits from Kabria Dame (’15), Maddie Martinson (’16) and Sophie Frick (’18) resulted in a two runs for the Vikings. Casey Glassford (’15) stole home on a wild pitch to make the score 3-0 at the end of the first inning.

The Viking domination continued in the second inning, with hits by Autumn Macreno (’15), Dhesya Swezey (’18) and a base hit by Dame off of which a run scored to make it 4-0. The rest of the runs in the bottom of the inning were caused by poor pitching by the Gunderson Grizzlies, with runs resulting from a walk with bases loaded and a wild pitch for a 6-0 lead.

During the third inning, a double by Macreno put runners on second and third. Swezey hit a long fly ball for an RBI (Run Batted In). Hits by Martinson, M. Glassford and Frick resulted in the 11-0 lead at the end of the third. Jones noted that the Lady Vikes batted well to obtain their substantial lead.

“We got our bats on the ball,” Jones said.

Although Maddy Atwater (’16) had a base hit in the fourth inning, the rest of her teammates grounded out to end the inning.

The top of the fifth inning was another three outs for the Viking defense, with a notable catch from Atwater in the outfield. After the top of the fifth ended, the umpire ended the game in accordance with the mercy rule.

Jones acknowledged some key plays by her teammates that enabled the Vikings to pull off the win and the perfect game.

“I think some shining moments were Mackenzie’s perfectly pitched game, Maggie’s clean backhand on a sharply hit ball down the third base side and Maddy Atwater’s catch out in center in the fifth which maintained Mackenzie’s perfect game.”

The Lady Vikes will play their next game at home against Mills High School at 4 p.m.