SEQUIM — A relentless barrage of noise emanates from the Sequim softball team’s dugout during a game.
There’s chatter, chants and singing (including, for some reason, the chorus from Def Leppard’s 1987 hit song “Pour Some Sugar on Me,” whenever catcher Bailey Rhodefer is at bat).
It’s loud, and it’s constant.
The onslaught makes Sequim’s 28-2 rout of Olympic on senior night late last month seem tame.
It’s clear the Wolves are having fun.
And why wouldn’t they be, with a 17-0 record on the season, including plowing through the Olympic League with a 16-0 mark?
But, their fun might have as much to do with the record as their record does with the fun they’re having.
“We’re such a family. That’s one of our sayings this year: Family,” center fielder Rylleigh Zbaraschuk said following the Olympic pounding.
“And there’s no drama, even though you think ‘Girls: drama.’ But, no, there’s none this year, and it’s amazing, and I love it.”
That sense of closeness is an important ingredient of Sequim’s flawless regular season, as it ventures into the postseason.
“I think one of the things about our team is that we are a team,” Rhodefer said.
“And it’s getting to the point where it’s like, OK, we’re going to [the league tournament], districts, state. We all want it so bad. It’s a group effort, and we realize that.”
First on the postseason agenda is the Olympic League tournament Saturday at the Kitsap County Fairgrounds in Bremerton.
“We have a target on our backs,” Sequim coach Mike McFarlen said by telephone Thursday.
The league champs open with Olympic, which defeated North Mason 1-0 thanks to a one-hitter pitched by Christina Bigelow in a play-in game Wednesday.
It will be Sequim’s third game in two weeks against the Trojans.
The Wolves have outscored Olympic 45-3 in the previous two meetings, so it seems unlikely Bigelow will repeat her one-hit performance in Saturday’s game.
In fact, it’s doubtful any pitcher would be able to check the Wolves to that extent.
“They hit the [stuffing] out of the ball,” McFarlen said of his team.
“It doesn’t matter who is pitching; it might take two innings, but we will start hitting.”
Sequim’s bats were particularly scorching during the final 15 days of the regular season when it scored double figures in runs in seven of nine games, including 26 or more runs three times.
If for some reason the hitting doesn’t get you, the pitching and fielding probably will.
Ace Makayla Bentz carries an ERA of 0.41, and there are no weak spots in the defense behind her.
If they beat the Trojans, the Wolves will face the winner between second-place Port Angeles and third-place Kingston.
Even if Bentz goes the distance in the first game, McFarlen said she’ll be ready to pitch the second contest, which begins only minutes after the opener.
“She’s played a lot of travel ball,” he said. “She can pitch three or four games in a day.”
McFarlen isn’t a fan of the Olympic League tournament, since there is really no advantage to be gained for the Wolves.
“We won the league, we’re the league champs,” he said.
“If for some reason, we lose to Olympic, we theoretically could be the [league’s] fourth seed at districts.
“All we’re doing is taking a risk of losing a key player to injury.”
The league’s top seed at the district tournament is important, because that team has a first-round bye and only needs to win one game to secure a berth in the 2A state tournament.
Sequim already achieved its team goal of an Olympic League title, so it set a new goal of winning the district tournament and going to state.
“Anything after that is a bonus,” McFarlen said.
But, the Wolves’ undefeated record provokes thoughts of more than just making it to state.
In 2011, Sequim went 28-0 and won the 2A state championship. Seven current Wolves were part of that title team, and 10 were on last year’s team that finished fourth at state.
McFarlen, who was a Sequim assistant coach two years ago, said the 2013 team is actually better than the 2011 squad on paper.
“They’re pretty comparable [overall],” McFarlen said. “I think this year’s team is better.
“But, it’s tough to say until we get to districts, and see [them play against top competition].”
Before that, though, the Wolves need to continue their league dominance and earn that top seed at the league tournament.
Even though Sequim has already owned the Olympic League, its motivation shouldn’t be lacking.
“We just like to win. All of us have the attitude of we hate losing,” Zbaraschuk said.
“[Winning big] doesn’t get old. Practice gets old; we’d rather play five million games than go practice for a week.”