Submitted photo – From left to right, the team of Allie Egbert, Bella Volz-Broughton, Ashley Ballew and Raina Ausburn finished third in Friday’s base running relay during the skills competitions at the four-day NAFA Nationals.

The Mad River MIST players are on a roll at the NAFA Nationals in Oregon this weekend, both collectively and individually.

After winning back-to-back games on Friday to go to 3-1 at the prestigious four-day fast-pitch softball tourney, a number of the MIST 16U team competed in the evening skills competition.

And several of them left their mark.

Most notably, McKinleyville’s Ashley Ballew, a key member of the Panthers’ treble winning team this past spring who took first place in the long toss competition and third in the home run derby.

Ballew, who broke into the varsity team as a freshman in 2018, is coming off a spectacular spring for the Panthers both in the outfield and at the plate, and has carried that form into the summer season.

Earlier on Friday she had four hits in the two games, three of them going for extra bases.

And she wasn’t the only MIST player to impress in the skills competitions.

Arcata’s Bella Volz-Broughton, who also is coming off an impressive spring season, showcased her base running skills with a third-place finish in the base-running home-to-home competition.

Volz-Broughton and Ballew also teamed up with Arcata’s Raina Ausburn and McKinleyville’s Allie Egbert to place third in the base running relay.

The MIST will be back in action at the tournament on Saturday.