Colony slugger Taylor Passard doesn’t get cheated at the plate. Photo by Bruce Eggleston/MatSu Sports
On paper, West Valley pitcher Rochelle Phipps had a rough day in Saturday’s 15-0 loss to top-ranked Colony.
But in reality, Phipps kinda killed it, doing something no other Alaska high school hurler has accomplished this season: hold slugger Taylor Passard hitless for an entire game.
The state’s top home run hitter went 0-for-3 against Phipps after two groundballs and a flyout to centerfielder Jordan Campbell, snapping Passard’s 25-game hitting streak.
Passard, a star freshman, saw her batting average drop to .676 in 26 games on 48-for-85 hitting. The 5-foot-7 shortstop leads the state with 12 home runs and 53 RBIs.
She finished 13-for-24 (.541) on her six-game road trip to Fairbanks, belting four home runs and knocking in 16 runs for the Knights (30-2), who extended their winning streak to 20 games.
Passard doesn’t get cheated at the plate and she doesn’t miss a lot of pitches. In 85 plate appearances, she has struck out just twice, both times coming in the same game May 18 against Wasilla ace Adaya Lash.
In Fairbanks, Passard homered in three straight games against North Pole, Delta and Lathrop – the second time she’s gone yard in three straight games this year.
The Mat-Su slugger may have seen her hitting streak snapped at 25, but she pushed her streak to 12 games of having at least one RBI.
In her first 26 games, she has had at least one hit in 25 games and at least one RBI in 25 games, but not in the same game – that would mean she was human.
Sjostrand belts 3 HRs
Speaking of out-of-this-world performances, Chugiak’s Isabel Sjostrand had a game for the ages last week at the Loretta French Fields in Eagle River.
The right-handed power hitter belted three home runs to power a 16-0 victory, hitting a solo shot in the first inning and three-run blasts in each of the second and third innings.
With easy power, Sjostrand crushed all three balls to centerfield. She finished the game 3-for-3 with a career-high seven RBIs.
Shortstop Isabel Sjostrand settles under a pop up. Photo by Stephanie Burgoon/Alaska Sports Report
But just when you thought she couldn’t do any better, four days later Sjostrand went 4-for-4 with a home run, double and career-high eight RBIs.
In two games, she went 7-for-7 with 15 RBIs.
Sjostrand is batting .733 in 10 games on 22-for-30 hitting. Her three-homer game kickstarted a string of her having hits in 10 consecutive plate appearances.
She has hit a career-high eight home runs this season and 17 in 64 career games across three seasons. With 35 RBIs, she’s nearly eclipsed last year’s total of 38 despite limited plate appearances.
Faumuina fam on fire
There’s something about playing Service that brings out the best in the Faumuina family.
Four days after Bartlett freshman Luisa Faumuina had two home runs and five RBIs against the Cougars, junior Saniyah Faumuina had two home runs and five RBIs against them.
Both players have seven homers on the season.
This was the second time this year that Luisa went yard twice in the same game. She also hit two bombs against West on May 15.
Saniyah is batting .541 in 14 games on 20-of-37 hitting.
