2A Softball: Senior Battery Leads Bearcats to State Championship

SELAH — Since the start of the season, Bearcat coach Mike Keen has been stressing the importance of a seasoned, all-senior battery.

Ali Graham in the circle. Caitlin Reynolds behind the plate. A two-step recipe for success, and the Bearcats baked up a state championship here Saturday by following it to the letter.

Reynolds went 3 for 3 at the plate with a home run, Graham pitched all seven innings and W.F. West held off White River, 3-2, in the title game of the State 2A Softball Tournament at Carlon Park.

“That’s what seniors do,” Keen said. “Seniors take over in the circle. Seniors catch. Seniors get clutch base hits.”

The rest of the team, naturally, had plenty of influence on the outcome — particularly in the bottom of the seventh inning. White River’s Kenadie Smith led the final frame off with a single, and the Hornets elected to bunt her over to second.

Graham fielded the bunt and flipped it to Olivia Dean at first base, who turned and whipped the ball to second base, where Smith was caught too far from safety and tagged out in a rundown for a heads-up double play.

“I have 100 percent confidence in Ali, just because I’ve played with her so long,” Reynolds said. “Obviously I’m not too comfortable in that situation, just because it’s really close, but I had a lot of confidence in my pitcher and a lot of confidence in my defense, and we made it work.”

Three pitches later, White River’s No. 9 hitter lined a shot to Ashlee Vadala at first for the final out.

It was the closest game the Bearcats (23-3) played against a 2A team all season. W.F. West had won its first three state games by a combined score of 31-8, and won its three District 4 games by a combined score of 31-3.

“We told the girls, we can win blowouts, and we can win this,” Keen said. “That’s what does it. Our defense stepped up when we needed it.”

Graham was only in serious danger once. After retiring the first two batters in the bottom of the fifth inning, with a 3-0 lead, she gave up back-to-back doubles and then a single to leadoff hitter Kayla Smith that plated the Hornets’ final run.

Aside from the fifth, Graham never faced more than four hitters in an inning.

The Bearcats, however, had a bit of trouble getting to White River’s Kayla Smith, a senior right-hander. Smith struck out three, walked two and gave up 10 hits, and managed to hold the top four hitters in the Bearcat lineup to a 2-for-14 performance.

“She sure kept us off-balance,” Keen said. “Give credit to some of the girls. They kept their hands back a little longer, and when she did make a mistake, she paid for it.”

Reynolds, however, had a bit of extra insight into Smith’s mechanics: the two had played together on a 16U club fastpitch team.

“I’m a catcher, so I know what she likes to pitch, so I was pretty comfortable,” Reynolds said. “But she’s a good pitcher. I have to tip my hat, because she was controlling a lot of her hitters. She was doing well, but I felt really comfortable.”

Reynolds homered to center field in her first at-bat, giving W.F. West a 1-0 lead in the second inning. She then sparked a two-out rally in the fifth frame with a double to left field, and her courtesy runner Ashley Hoven scored on a double from Roni Braun.

Braun then came around on a double from Tessa Wollan, and the Bearcats had what turned out to be the sum of their offense.

Champs Again

Graham and Reynolds were both freshmen on the Bearcats’ 2012 State 2A championship team, which set a title-game scoring record in a 15-3 win over Tumwater. No championship team before or since has scored in double-digits in the title game.

The duo’s older sisters — Haley Graham and Marissa Reynolds — were stars on the 2012 title team, and were on hand for trophy pictures with their siblings after the game.

“I don’t even know what to think of it,” Reynolds said. “So much is going through my mind, it’s just overwhelming. But I’m just so proud of my team. All of them were working hard, and it’s just great that we finally have something to show for it.”

Graham was the starting, and winning, pitcher in the 2012 championship game.

“This one hasn’t even hit yet. The freshman year, it took a little bit,” Graham said. “It didn’t set in until like halfway through my junior year, so now this one’s not going to set in for a while. It’s just an unbelievable feeling.”

The Bearcats were making their 12th straight state tournament appearance. The team’s 2012 championship was Keen’s first.

“I think this is better, just because I can relax and enjoy this,” he joked. “The first one is the first one. It’s like having your second kid.”

It was the final game in crimson and grey for Graham, Reynolds and outfielder Tailor Albright.

“I’m going to miss them,” Keen said.

Getting There

W.F. West hammered Port Angeles, 15-3, and Ellensburg, 11-4, on Friday to reach the state semifinals, then beat Othello — which handed the Bearcats their first loss of the season in last year’s semifinals — 5-1 to reach the title game.

“We were looking at that bracket we’re in, and going, ‘Oh, man,’” Keen said. “But we said, ‘You know, it doesn’t matter who we play. It’s one game at a time’ — how’s that for a cliche — and it’s just whoever shows up.”

Semifinals

W.F. West 5, Othello 1

The Bearcats got all the offense they needed in the first two innings.

W.F. West avenged a semifinal loss from last year’s state tournament with a 5-1 win over Othello on Saturday morning to advance to the State 2A championship game.

Caitlin Reynolds hit a 2-run single in the first inning, Jessica McKay hit an RBI single in the second and Ashlee Vadala hit a 2-run double in the second to give W.F. West an early 5-0 advantage.

That would prove to be more than enough of a cushion with Ali Graham in the circle. Graham struck out seven and allowed four hits, retiring the last nine batters she faced to put W.F. West in the championship game for the first time since 2012.

McKay and Vadala were both 2 for 3 in the win, while Jordan Crawford went 1 for 2.