Saturday's 2A Softball: W.F. West Falls to Woodland in State Title Game

SELAH — W.F. West’s bats were hot entering the State 2A softball tournament championship game against Woodland here on Saturday, but Olivia Grey put out that fire quickly and poured sand all over it to make sure it didn’t start again, helping Woodland earn a 3-0 win to win the state title.

Grey struck out 16 batters while throwing a no hitter in the circle to help the Beavers earn back-to-back championships.

W.F. West’s Kamy Dacus had a solid performance as well, striking out four batters and allowing five hits and a hit batter.

Ellie Bunker ended the perfect game when she worked the count and earned a walk. Annika Waring also got on base when she was hit by a pitch.

“What we just talked about is this is the group I would want every single day in that game,” W.F. West coach Caty Lieseke said. “I’m proud of every single one of them. I’m proud of what we put forth, I think we gave up four or five hits. We just didn’t quite get the runs across, we were just getting the bats going and just ran out of time. I’m proud of today, I’m proud of the season, I’m proud of everything.”

It was scoreless until the third inning. Kat Paloutzian was hit by a pitch and Kaily Christenson stepped up to the plate next and hit a home run over the centerfield fence for a 2-0 lead.

Kelly Sweyer hit a solo home run in the fourth for the final tally of the game.

“We had a game plan for looking for what we wanted, something lower in the zone early and she worked around it. She’s good,” Lieseke said of Grey. “I’ve got to tip my hat to her for what she did out there but we had girls starting to zero in and starting to figure some things out, just not quite enough and not in time.”

This is a familiar feeling for the Bearcats. Woodland defeated W.F. West 10-1 in last year’s state tournament en route to the title.

Even with the loss, Lieseke was able to put the season into perspective.

“Second is not something to hang your head about. Second is not something that people are pumped about,” Lieseke said. “It’s kind of fun to see a group of girls say no, we want more than that, we want better. You look around, there’s four district four teams playing here today. We made it through a great league, we made it through a great district and a great state. To finish second is something to be excited about after it stops feeling so sucky.”

It was the final softball game for W.F. West’s Noelle Roberts, Taylor Barker, Trinatie Snider and McKenna Brinson.

“They’re ones that just really bring the attitude of family to this team,” Lieseke said. “That’s something that will be greatly missed. I love them, they’re great.”

W.F. West finished the season 23-4 overall and will return a ton of talent, including eight juniors from this season, and the Bearcats are excited for next season.

“Very excited, we’re already out here talking about it,” Lieseke said. “The girls are saying, don’t worry, we’ll be back and this is ours.”

Semifinals

Bearcats Score in Bunches to Down Spudders in Semifinals

SELAH — W.F. West collected 11 hits and took advantage of five Ridgefield errors to earn a 13-3 win in a State 2A softball tournament semifinal game at Carlon Park here on Saturday.

Kamy Dacus struck out three batters while pitching a complete game in the circle. She helped her cause at the plate with a 2-run home run.

Ava Fugate was 2-for-4 with a triple, a home run, three RBI, two runs and a hit by pitch. Ashlyn Whalen was 2-for-4 with a double, RBI and two runs and Paetynn Lopez was 2-for-4 with two doubles, two RBI and two runs.

Annika Waring was 2-for-4 with three RBI and a run and Paytton Crawford was 2-for-3 with a double, a run, a walk and a RBI for the Bearcats.

W.F. West scored three runs in the first inning and two runs in the second inning for a 5-2 lead. The Bearcats opened the game up with four runs in the fourth inning and plated four more runs in the sixth inning, including a walk off two RBI triple by Fugate.

The win advanced the Bearcats to the state title game for the second time in three years.