Chalk one up to a learning experience.

The Auburn Riverside endured just that on a rainy Saturday afternoon in the South Puget Sound League/Seamount League championship game at Service Park in Kent.

And on this particular day, Kennedy ace Karli Merlich did all the teaching.

The Texas Tech-bound Lancers star limited Riverside to three hits and struck out nine, leading the Lancers to the title, 2-0.

Merlich, known for her dominant power pitching, threw a little bit of everything at Riverside: screwballs, riseballs, changeups and, of course, her trademark heaters.

And she did it without her ‘A’ game.

“No (I didn’t have my best stuff) because it was really wet,” conceded Merlich, who led the Lancers to the Class 3A state title last year. “This was really hard and I hurt my finger … my nail (on my index finger) is about to come off of my pitching hand.

“I superglued it together.”While Merlich was able to piece together her right hand, the Ravens (16-4) were unable to muster much of anything against the Lancers (20-0).

Matter of fact, Auburn Riverside advanced just one runner past second base all afternoon, that being Kara Jenkins in the third inning, who did so on a wild pitch.

“When you haven’t seen someone who throws as hard as Karli does, that first time you see her, it’s always a learning experience,” Auburn Riverside coach Chris Leverenz said. “With me having four freshman, that’s always going to be a learning experience. Karli’s good … you’re talking about an 18-year-old facing 14- or 15-year-olds.”

Despite the final result, the Ravens made Merlich – and her defense – work for the victory. The Kennedy ace averages nearly 13 strikeouts per game, but managed just nine against Auburn Riverside.

“Everyone knows about her, we faced her last year two times,” Riverside’s Katie Grad said. “She’s a great pitcher, but we can’t be intimidated by that. We can’t let that faze us in the batter’s box.”

Kennedy got the only run it would need in the first inning on a sacrifice fly from Lindsy Dugan, scoring Jessica Lewis.

Behind a pair of Auburn Riverside errors on the same play in the fourth inning, Merlich pushed the lead to 2-0 with a double-turned home run into the left-field corner.

The loss overshadowed another strong performance from Ravens ace Amanda Fitzsimmons, who went the distance in the circle, allowing just six hits and striking out six.

Regardless of the final result, Fitzsimmons said, the Ravens want to see the Lancers again at district, set for Friday and Saturday at Sprinker Recreation Center in Spanaway.

“Really bad,” she said. “My last words in the dugout were, ‘Hey, we lost to them in postseason last year and we beat them in district. We can do it again. We’re the same team, just a little bit younger.’”

Auburn, which won one of three games, will take the No. 8 seed to this weekend’s district tournament. The Trojans opened with a 7-6 loss to Lindbergh before rebounding for a 16-5 win over Hazen. The Trojans got the No. 8 seed after falling to Sumner, 9-8.