2A Softball: Bearcats Hammer Selah, Finish Third in State

SELAH — An up-and-down day for the Bearcats ended on a high note, capping a four-year tenure that’s featured far more ups than downs for this year’s W.F. West softball seniors.

Four Evergreen 2A Conference titles. Four District 4 titles. Two State 2A championships and two additional pieces of hardware, the last of which was delivered here Saturday.

W.F. West drubbed Selah, 17-3, in a windswept at Carlon Park to finish third and end the season with a win.

It was a strong finish for the Bearcats, who had opened the day with a 10-1 loss to Woodland in the semifinals, and a strong final chapter for seniors Olivia Dean, Ashlee Vadala and Kindra Davis.

“I’m very happy with this. I can’t complain at all,” said Dean, the Bearcats’ leadoff hitter and shortstop. “I’m going to miss it so much. This is the best experience, absolutely, of my life. … It’s been just a gift, and such a treat to play with all these amazing girls.”

Bearcat coach Caty Lieseke, an assistant before taking over as head coach last spring, cited the seniors’ hard work as the secret to their on-field success.

“That just doesn’t happen by chance,” she said. “They’re kids that have been a part of this varsity program since Day 1, and the leadership, even, that they’re leaving behind, they’ve really set a legacy for what it means to be a leader.”

W.F. West had beaten Woodland in a 10-inning thriller in districts, but Beaver ace Olivia Grey fanned 15 to get the win on Saturday.

“The first game clearly didn’t go how we wanted it to go, but we talked after that and said ‘This one’s going to be the toughest one we play all season, because you’ve got to come right back and hit the ball and take care of business to be playing for third,’” Lieseke said. “The girls took their time, did what they needed and showed what we can do.”

W.F. West finished the season with a 24-4 overall record. Davis and Dean, last year’s EvCo co-Offensive MVPs, are both headed to college. Dean has signed to play softball at Centralia College, while Davis — unable to hit this season due to an injury — has signed with Boise State University. Vadala, meanwhile, will enter the nursing program at Centralia College.

Third-Place Game

W.F. West 17, Selah 3

SELAH — The Bearcats had seen Selah before — the day before, in fact, in the first round of the State 2A tournament.

“We did okay off of (Selah pitcher Emily Tipton), and so they all said, ‘Hey, let’s do what we’ve done all season, and let’s hit the ball and let’s go,’” Lieseke said. “Like, let’s put this out as soon as we can, and right beforehand, they said ‘Hey, winning’s fun. Let’s win this one.’”

W.F. West did get the game over quickly, wrapping the five-inning, 17-3 victory up in about an hour and 15 minutes. Six players had multiple hits and W.F. West scored eight runs in the bottom of the fourth inning to turn it into a rout.

The Bearcats reached the trophy round by beating Ridgefield, a game that started shortly after their semifinal loss.

“We were talking about how we had a lot of fun in the Ridgefield game, so we came back here and we had a lot of fun and we stayed loose,” Dean, who went 2 for 4, said. “It turned out very well. I’m actually very happy with this win that we had here.”

Five errors by the Vikings — playing on their home turf — helped W.F. West’s cause, and the stiff wind blowing through Carlon Park likely played a hand in those miscues. Two balls glanced off of outfielders’ gloves in the first inning (one ruled an error, the other scored a two-run double by Taylor Barker), and a two-run homer by Paytton Crawford put W.F. West up 6-0. All six runs came with two outs.

Barker added an RBI single in the third inning, but the coux de grace came in the fourth. Three errors and seven hits led to eight Bearcat runs and what proved to be the final 17-3 lead.

Vadala, Ashlyn Whalen and Annika Waring each had two hits in the fourth; one of Whalen’s, one of Vadala’s and both of Waring’s drove in runs. Dean added a two-run single in her final trip to the plate as a Bearcat.

Vadala went all five innings in the circle, striking out five with two walks, eight hits and three earned runs. She also went 3 for 3 at the plate with a walk.

Whalen was 3 for 4, while Waring was 3 for 4 with three RBIs. Barker and Crawford were each 2 for 3.

Katie Noble hit a two-run homer in the third inning for Selah. Ryan Hutchison added a solo homer in the fourth for the Vikings, who finished the season 23-4.

Consolation Semifinals

W.F. West 13, Ridgefield 6

SELAH — With their backs to the wall, the Bearcats delivered.

Needing a win over Ridgefield to stay alive in the State 2A tournament, W.F. West rapped out 10 hits and scored eight runs over its final three at-bats to end the Spudders’ season a game shy of a trophy.

The contest was a rematch of last Friday’s District 4 championship game, which W.F. West won by an 8-7 score in eight innings.

Saturday’s state game didn’t feature the same level of drama. Olivia Dean went 3 for 3 with a double and four RBIs to lead the offense, which took a 3-2 lead after the first inning and never trailed again.

Annika Waring was 3 for 4 with two RBIs, Taylor Barker went 2 for 4 with a double and two RBIs, and Paetynn Lopez hit a triple.

Waring and Ashlee Vadala combined for the win, allowing a total eight hits by the Spudders. Kakai Schultz homered for Ridgefield, which finished the season 20-4.

Semifinals

Woodland 10, W.F. West 1

SELAH — Woodland’s Payton Foster hit a grand slam to break up a scoreless game in the fourth inning, and the Beavers cruised past W.F. West, 10-1, in a rematch of a District 4 semifinals.

The Beavers had 10 hits in Saturday’s semifinal win, with Chloe Eddy and Carleigh Risley each adding homers in the fifth inning.

Ashlynn Whalen went 2 for 3 with a double for W.F. West, and Annika Waring was 3 for 3 with an RBI double in the sixth inning.

Woodland went on to beat Ellensburg, 5-1, for the State 2A title later Saturday afternoon and finished the season with a 25-3 record. The Beavers outscored their opponents 33-5 at state.

The loss dropped W.F. West into a do-or-die consolation game against Ridgefield.