TACOMA — The North Olympic Peninsula is sending four softball teams to state tournaments this week.
Sequim and Port Angeles qualified for the Class 2A tournament in Selah, Chimacum is going to the 1A tournament in Richland and Quilcene is returning to the 1B tournament in Yakima.
Sequim placed third at the District 2/3 tournament at Sprinker Fields over the weekend.
After winning two games, beating Steilacoom 7-4 and Liberty 5-4, to open the tournament Friday, the Wolves dropped both of their games Saturday, falling to White River 5-4 in the district semifinals and losing to Fife 7-0 in the third-place game.
Fife pitcher Anna Kasner was on point, holding Sequim to one hit and striking out 16 batters.
Port Angeles didn’t fare much better against Kasner.
Kasner struck out 14 and allowed only two hits to deal the Roughriders their first loss of the season 1-0 in the second round Friday.
“I talked to the White River coach [the Hornets are in the same league as Fife], and he said when she’s on, she’s on,” Port Angeles coach Randy Steinman said.
“She was on. I mean, she could do no wrong.
“There was nothing we could do. We played a great game. Everyone around the whole place said that was the best game they watched.”
The Riders’ only hits were infield singles by Taylar Clark and Sierra Robinson.
Port Angeles ace Nizhoni Wheeler made it a pitchers’ duel. The sophomore struck out seven and gave up only six hits and one run in seven innings.
The Riders opened the tournament with an 11-3 win over River Ridge on Friday morning.
After falling behind 2-0 in the first inning, Port Angeles took the lead by plating a run in the first, another in the third and one in the fifth.
The Riders put the game away with eight runs in the sixth.
Emily Johnson led off the inning with a triple and came around to score when the throw to third went past the third baseman.
Later in the inning, Natalie Steinman hit a grand slam, and Johnson followed that with a homer of her own.
The loss to Fife dropped the Riders into the consolation bracket and eliminated any room for error.
They opened Saturday with a 13-0 win over Steilacoom in five innings.
Wheeler fanned eight, allowed only one hit and walked four.
The offense backed her up with 20 hits.
Johnson had another nice game, going 3 for 4 with a two doubles and a triple.
“Her bat’s come alive nicely,” Randy Steinman said.
Carly Gouge was 3 for 4 with two doubles, Jaidyn Larson went 3 for 4 with a double, Natalie Steinman was 2 for 3 with a triple, Clark went 4 for 4 with a double, Alyssa Wetzler was 3 for 3 and Dawn Oliver went 2 for 4.
“Twenty hits that game. It was pretty impressive,” Randy Steinman said.
“They came out swinging.”
Port Angeles then beat Highline 8-3 to clinch a state berth.
Natalie Steinman was a perfect 4 for 4 at the plate with a double, Gouge was 3 for 5 and Oliver went 2 for 3.
Wheeler struck out eight in 6 2/3 innings.
“They came out ready to play today,” Steinman said of his team Saturday.
“They knew they had to win two [to make state], but that wasn’t good enough. They went and won all three.”
Port Angeles needed only six innings to defeat Olympic 10-0 in the fifth-place game.
Wheeler went all six innings, striking out eight and giving up only two hits to earn her second shutout of the day.
“You think that she’d be tired on her fifth game, and it was one of her better games,” Steinman said.
“She had good pop on the ball and everything else.”
Lauren Lunt was 3 for 4 with a double and a triple, Alicia Howell went 3 for 4 with a double and Wetzler had three singles for Port Angeles.
“We had some kids that really had good tournaments,” Steinman said.
“But overall, every single kid played really well.”
The Riders (20-1) open the state tournament against W.F. West (19-3) on Friday at noon at Carlon Park in Selah.
The Bearcats rolled to the District 4 tournament championship, going 3-0 and outscoring their opponents 31-3.
“Going in as a fifth seed, we knew were going to get a tough draw,” Steinman said.
“All I know is they have a tradition of tough softball teams.
“But they’re probably looking at playing a five-seed and thinking, ‘Oh, they’re 20-1?’”
Sequim (15-7) begins state against Othello (19-3) at noon. The Huskies tied with Ellensburg and Selah for first in the Central Washington Athletic Conference, but beat both teams in the District 5/6/7 tournament to earn the No. 1 seed.
Bi-District Championship Game
Quilcene 17, Wishkah Valley 0
QUILCENE — The Rangers are headed back to state for the fifth straight year after walloping the Wishkah Valley Loggers in the Class 1B Bi-District championship game.
Quilcene put up 27 runs and allowed zero in its two district wins. The Rangers beat Naselle 10-0 in the district semifinals.
Saturday’s victory was Quilcene’s fifth win in three seasons over the Loggers.
“In those games, Sammy Rae beat Logger ace Teagan Louthan four times in some exciting ball games,” Rangers coach Mark Thompson said.
“But with Louthan graduating last year, today’s game was over after the second inning.”
Rae had another sensational game, striking out 11 batters and limiting Wishkah to just three hits.
She also went 3 for 3 at-bat with a home run, a ground-rule double, five RBIs and three runs.
Megan Weller had three hits, including a triple and double, and four runs.
Alex Johnsen had two hits, an RBI and scored three runs, and Alexis Gray had two hits, including a bases-clearing double in the first inning.
“Our team worked hard all year and has earned being called best in the west,” Thompson said. “Every game they play for each other.
“I’m really excited about the opportunities coming up.”
The Rangers (17-1) will seek to improve on consecutive fourth-place finishes at state starting Friday in Yakima.
They’ll face a familiar foe, the Almira-Coulee-Hartline Warrrors, for the third consecutive season.
Quilcene dropped all three games to the Warriors by an average margin of 12-4.
Quilcene 17, Wishkah Valley 0, 5 innings
Wishkah Valley 0 0 0 0 0 — 0 3 5
Quilcene 5 3 6 3 x — 17 13 2
WP- Rae
Pitching Statistics
Quilcene: Rae 5 IP, 3 H, 11 K.
Hitting Statistics
Quilcene: Rae 3-3, HR, 5 RBI, 3 R; Weller 3-4, 3B, 2B, 4 R; Johnsen 2-3, 3B, RBI, 3 R; Macedo 2-3, RBI; Gray 2-3, 2B, 3 RBI.
Chimacum takes second at district tournament
TACOMA — The Cowboys gritted through three consecutive games at the Class 1A West Central District tournament.
Chimacum went 2-1 Saturday, knocking off Bellevue Christian 11-9 in the district opener, falling 12-2 to Seattle Christian in the district title game, and rallying for a 14-8 win over Bellevue Christian in the second-place game.
“It’s a lot to ask of your athletes to play in back-to-back-to-back games like that,” Cowboys coach Junior Roberts said.
“It was tough and tiring, but I’m so proud of this team of girls for just playing tough and being there for each other all day.”
Chimacum went back and forth with the Vikings in the opener.
“That first game was a battle,” Roberts said. “We just kept answering back.”
Ryley Eldridge, who started at pitcher in all three games for the Cowboys, went the full seven innings, striking out 10. She added a two-run triple and scored twice.
“She pitched three innings there where she didn’t give up anything and retired the side,” Roberts said.
Taylor Carthum led Chimacum at the plate with two singles, a walk, four RBIs and a run.
Maisy Simon also was twice hit by pitches to bring in runners for the Cowboys.
After a thrilling victory, Chimacum struggled to get going in the second game against Seattle Christian.
“You could see our girls were emotionally drained coming off that big high and they came out a little flat,” Roberts said.
Trailing 5-0 early, Roberts subbed Bradyn Nelson in for Eldridge at pitcher, a move that worked out well for game three.
“Bradyn held them scoreless for two, maybe three innings,” Roberts said.
“If our bats could have come around, we might have been able to get back in it.”
Carthum and Eldridge had RBIs for Chimacum in the loss.
“Seattle Christian had a pitcher with a wicked changeup, and we just weren’t ready,” Roberts said.
Roberts engaged in a little gamesmanship before the second game with Bellevue Christian.
“The girls were tired, I could see it,” Roberts said.
“I took my time filling out the lineup card and entering the book, and we had about 10 to 15 minutes where the girls were able to get a little rest.”
Bellevue Christian jumped out to a quick 2-0 lead, but the Cowboys answered with six runs.
“Bellevue put up some runs on us in the first inning, but to the girls’ credit in our bottom half we got hits and battled and took advantage of their pitcher being tired,” Roberts said.
“I think she was their only pitcher.”
Chimacum added five more in the bottom of the third, four coming on a grand slam by Eldridge.
“Everybody was coming through with big hits, but the biggest was Ryley’s grand slam,” Roberts said.
“I can’t say enough about her. She carried the team.
“When she hit that grand slam, I knew right away we were going to win because I looked at their pitcher and her shoulders weren’t high anymore. She had done a great job but she looked defeated.”
Kiersten Snyder came through with three singles, four RBIs and two runs for the Cowboys.
Kyah McKinlay had a two-run single, Nelson doubled and scored three runs and Kelle Settje scored three runs after reaching base in all four at-bats with two singles, a walk and a hit-by-pitch.
Then the team celebrated its first trip to state since a third-place finish in 2010.
“The girls tried to dump a cooler of ice water on me, so before they got me I stepped out of the way,” Roberts said.
“But Ryley snuck away and grabbed two water bottles, and while I was talking to the team, she got me.”
Chimacum will face Cle Elum (18-4) at noon Friday in Richland.
