For the second time this season, Federal Way and Decatur’s fastpitch teams faced off.

And for the second time this season the Eagles left victorious, winning Wednesday’s matchup 8-2.

When these teams first met on March 22, Federal Way pummeled the Gators 18-1. Decatur, fighting for a playoff spot, was much more intent on making it a game this time around.

Federal Way started quickly on offense.

Jody Scanson walked to give the Eagles their first base runner with one out, and she moved up to second on a stolen base.

An uncaught third strike allowed Scanson to move to third with two outs. Jessica Kuhn was able to reach base with a walk, giving the Eagles two runners.

The Gators looked like they would end the inning on a fly ball, but an error allowed Scanson to score and kept two runners on base.

An error in the outfield on a Melissa Mateus pop fly brought home two more runs, giving the Eagles a 3-0 lead.

After a couple of quiet innings, the Gators finally found some life in their bats. Ashleigh Buckley hit a double, and Madison Combs moved her up to third with a single. Jessica Karmell managed to place a bunt well enough to score Buckley and make it to first base herself, cutting the deficit to two points.

The close score didn’t last long, with Federal Way cushioning their lead in the top of the fourth.

Molly Saeda began the inning with a single, and a couple of wild pitches moved her up to third. Scanson then recorded a single for an RBI with one out.

Hannah Togia managed to stay alive after falling down 0-2 in the count and walked. Kuhn then loaded the bases with a single.

It was the perfect situation for Tally Thomas to step into, and she delivered. A line drive to left-center cleared the bases, leaving her standing on third base and leaving the Eagles ahead 7-1.

“That’s a boost,” said Federal Way interim coach Larry Ziegelman. “When Tally gets up there with people in position, she goes out there and cranks it. Nothing we can do but watch her run.”

A Mateus sacrifice fly allowed Thomas to score, bringing the lead to 8-1.

Decatur tried to rally in the bottom of the seventh, but it came a little too late.

Yuka Matsufuji started the inning with a single and Kianna Fiorito reached base on an error.

Buckley’s hard hit resulted in an error and the ball rolled to right-center field. Matsufuji beat out the throw home on the play to score the second run for Decatur.

Federal Way caught Fiorito in a rundown to get the first out. The next two at-bats for Decatur resulted in outs, giving the Eagles the 8-2 win.

“It’s definitely an improvement from the last time we played them,” said Decatur head coach Sarah Beckler. “This time we were in it. A couple of key errors and key hits this way or that way would have definitely been the difference in the game this time. We still have some holes that we need to work on, but we’re definitely getting better everyday.”

Mateus picked up the win, pitching all seven innings and giving up six hits, no walks, one earned run and striking out five batters.

Gennie Summers pitched five innings for Decatur, giving up six hits, five earned runs, five walks and striking out four.

Thomas finished 2-for-4 with three RBIs and two triples. Tatyana Reuter finished 2-for-4 and stole two bases.

The loss dropped Decatur to 3-7 overall and 2-6 in league play.

Federal Way improved to 8-1 overall and in league play with the win. They only trail Tahoma in the SPSL North.

For personal reasons, the Eagles have been without their head coach in recent games.

“They’ve all picked up the slack,” Ziegelman said. “We’ve got some young kids that came in and they’ve been picking it up where it’s needed. We lost a player just the other day. We’re hoping we can keep going without any loss.”

Decatur (3-9, 2-8) lost 16-2 to Kentridge (5-6, 4-6) on Thursday and lost 6-3 to Mount Rainier (3-9, 2-9) on Friday. They are scheduled to play Kent-Meridian (1-10, 0-10) on Monday at 4 p.m. at Decatur High School.

The Eagles were defeated 9-6 by Tahoma (11-0, 9-0) in the two teams first meeting of the year on Thursday. They beat Kent-Meridian 16-0 on Friday.

Federal Way is scheduled to meet Kentlake (9-3, 8-2) on Monday at 4 p.m. at Federal Way High School. Kentlake currently holds on to the second place tiebreaker between the two schools due to their 7-3 victory over the Eagles on March 23.