Thanks to the floodgates opening up in the third and fourth innings, the Woodland High School varsity softball team earned its first Golden Empire League win of the season after defeating Natomas 17-1.

The Wolves (4-11, 1-4 GEL) came into Tuesday’s home league matchup in much need of a win and got one. Before the huge victory, the Wolves endured hard losses to El Camino, Sutter, Rio Linda and Casa Roble. While the losses piled up, the Wolves continued battling and were rewarded with a fun win.

“After a bit of struggle at first, trying to work out all the kinks, the girls are starting to really jive together and play well together,” Wolves head coach Jeff Loesch said. “I couldn’t ask for a better group of girls. They just need more time on the field, and they’ll produce. I believe in them.”

Leading the way for the Wolves at the plate so far has been junior Emily Rathjen, who leads the team with 10 RBI, senior Izzy Loesch, who leads the team in hits (20) and runs (13), and freshman Bria Arrellano who is second in all three categories racking up 10 runs, 16 hits and 9 RBI. Senior Taylin Gill is third on the squad in hits (13) and RBI (8).

On the mound, Gill and fellow senior Addy Tetreault have pitched all 63.2 innings for the Wolves, with Tetreault at 41.1 and Gill tossing 22.1. Tetreault has struck out 36 batters and only walked 9, while Gill has 10 strikeouts to her name.

Natomas got out to an early 1-0 lead in the top of the first inning. After a few nervy innings of scoreless ball, the floodgates opened up for the Wolves as they scored 9 runs in the bottom third inning to make it 9-1.

They nearly matched that output in the fourth inning, scoring 8 runs to go up 17-1, activating the 10-run mercy rule in the process.

The fireworks in the fourth started with junior Emma Rubio reaching first base on an infield single, scoring senior Taylin Gill in the process to make it 10-1.

Freshman Natalie Gutierrez then came up and smacked a double into center field, bringing home Rubio and making it 11-1, activating the mercy rule.

After freshman Bria Arrellano reached first on a fielding error, senior Addy Tetreault came up to single and scored Gutierrez, making it 12-1. Fellow freshman Nyah Tempel singled to bring Arrellano home, making it 13-1. Senior Izzy Loesch would then double and score Tetreault to make it 14-1.

The hit parade continued through the lineup as Wolves batters had their second at bats of the inning. Senior Sofia Mendoza would bring home Tempel on a single to make it 15-1 before Sofia Sanchez brought home Loesch to make it 16-1.

The Wolves’ final run came via a Gill single that scored Mendoza, making it 17-0.

Gills’s final insurance run wouldn’t be needed as she came out for the top of the fifth inning and finished off her complete game from the circle, allowing only one unearned run to go with 5 strikeouts and 3 walks.

“Her fastball was working well, outside and inside,” Loesch said. “She was throwing it and hitting her spots. She was working hard out there.”

At the plate, Loesch led the way with 4 RBI and tied the team-high for hits with Sanchez, Arrellano and Rubio with 3 each. Tetreault and Arrellano also scored 3 runs each.

Up next for the Wolves will be a Thursday road trip to Destiny Charter Academy for the first of two GEL matchups. First pitch is set for 4:30 p.m.

“The number one goal in building up this program is to see some progress to end the season,” Loesch said. “It’s a young team, so I just want to see some progress. Our goals are to go out, get better, and give 100% every time we step on the field.”