The defending state champion W.F. West Bearcats start the State 2A softball tournament against White River at 10 a.m. at Carlon Park in Selah.
It is the first year at the helm for head coach Caty Lieseke, and she doesn’t feel any pressure heading into the state tournament.
“The joke all year long has been no pressure. It’s kind of been this unspoken things all season,” Lieseke said. “We’re playing loose, we’re ready. We’ve established our own identity and I think we’re ready to show off what that is at the state level.”
Being an assistant coach with former head coach Mike Keen during state title runs, Lieseke learned a lot from her predecessor.
“Mike was awesome. It’s business as usual, kind of learning that mentally and having the right energy but not overhyped,” Lieseke said. “He was great to learn from and great with the transition into this year.”
W.F. West won the district championship 4-3 over Ridgefield with a walk off double by Ashlyn Whalen in the eighth inning. The Lady Bearcats won in extra innings in the district semifinals, 10-5, against Woodland in 10 innings.
“I think that’s really shown us how we’re in every game until the last out gets made,” Lieseke said. “We have a chance to make something happen. I think it’s a huge piece of who we are as a team.”
The Bearcats have been crushing records at the plate, including doubling the regular season home run record with 46 balls flying over the fence this season.
W.F. West also set new regular season marks in runs (262), hits (303), RBIs (240) and slugging percentage (.750).
“We’ve been a team that plays team ball all year long,” Lieseke said. “I think our big focus is coming to play as a team and do what we’ve done all season long. If everyone gets hot, I’m not going to be upset about that.”
Although the bats are hot, don’t forget about the Bearcats’ pitching and defense. W.F. West’s Ashlee Vadala and Annika Waring have been anchoring the pitching staff.
Vadala struck out six batters with no walks in eight innings in the district title game and allowed only five runs in the 10 inning affair against Woodland.
Lieseke wasn’t going to reveal how she’d split time between the two pitchers, but said she was confident in either Vadala or Waring’s ability to get the job done in the circle.
W.F. West has faced White River once a year in each of the last five seasons. The Bearcats won 9-2 in the 2017 state quarterfinals and hope a win over the Hornets will be the beginning of another state championship run.
