The La Conner High baseball and softball teams were on the ropes at times, but each managed to strike back and earn hard-fought split decisions in early season action last week.

The Braves were blanked on two hits in a 14-0 non-league setback to Meridian Monday before opening conference play Friday with a 20-4 rout of Cedar Park Christian.

The Lady Braves, meanwhile, bounced back from a 13-4 loss to edge Bellingham 15-14 in the nightcap of a non-league twinbill on Saturday.

Meridian plated five runs in the first frame, burying the Braves early in a game notable in that it marked the return of La Conner junior hurler Erick Reinstra.

Reinstra, who recently transferred back to La Conner from Anacortes, appeared in relief against Meridian, taking the hill for the Braves for the first time since 2012.

Pitching, it turned out, was key for the Trojans.

Meridian limited La Conner to just two safeties, singles by Cameron Hansen and Hudson Zavala.

“We just weren’t able to get on track,” Braves’ coach Jeremiah LeSourd said afterward. “Meridian’s offense put pressure on us every inning.”

It was a much different story in La Conner’s league debut three days later.

The Braves scored in each of the game’s first four innings, including an 11-run outburst in the fourth.

Wil James and Matt Semrau paced the victors with multi-hit efforts.

James, a senior, blasted Cedar Park pitching with a double and triple in three at-bats. Semrau lined a two-bagger and a pair of singles.

In all, La Conner collected 14 hits and put the game in motion with nine stolen bases.

Max Miller, Taylor Swanson, and Reinstra combined to check Cedar Park on two hits.

The Lady Braves were likewise able to duck a knockout blow, fighting back from a tough loss in the opener of Saturday’s doubleheader.

In that game, La Conner pounded out 10 hits and saw Lady Braves’ pitcher Olivia Hedlund fan seven Bellingham hitters.

But it wasn’t enough as La Conner couldn’t deliver timely base hits with runners aboard.

“We left too many runners on in scoring position,” Lady Braves’ head coach Peg Seeling lamented. “We left runners at third in five innings and stranded a total of eight runners in scoring position.”

That proved the difference.

Hedlund, Siomi Bobb, Chloe Fullington, and Elizabeth Tripp led the Lady Braves with two hits apiece. Emma Christianson and Nakiya Edwards each added singles.

La Conner turned the tables in the second game, rallying for four runs on five hits in the last inning to salvage a split.

“The final inning really showed our grit by coming back from a three-run deficit,” Seeling said.

Tripp scattered 12 hits — only one of which went for extra bases — and struck out two Bellingham hitters over seven innings to pick up the win.

She was backed by a 16-hit Lady Braves’ attack.

Hedlund and Christianson delivered three hits each. Two of Hedlund’s were doubles, while Christianson drilled a triple.

Bobb picked up where she left off from the first game by lacing two doubles.

Tripp helped her cause with two singles, matching Leann Swan.

Lauren Reynolds ripped a double, and Fullington added a single for the winners.

“We’re a young team,” stressed Seeling, “and we’re learning each game out. I was happy with the all-around effort by the girls and that we really never gave up.”