Wednesday's 2A Softball: Bearcats Back on Track

The Bearcats’ loss on Tuesday may have been the first league defeat of any of the current players’ careers, but it was not the end of the world.

It was, however, a motivational tool, prompting W.F. West’s players to spend a little extra time in the batting cages — which turned out to be less than promising news for Centralia.

“We were all butthurt about it — pretty bummed — but I think it brought us closer in that, hey, we need to get it together, and not go out there being overconfident,” Bearcat senior Ashlee Vadala said. “We came back together and came out today and showed up ready to play.”

A refocused W.F. West softball team came out swinging on Wednesday, drubbing the rival Tigers 20-0 in a five-inning Evergreen 2A Conference game at Fort Borst Park.

Vadala and her fellow seniors — Olivia Dean and Kindra Davis — played a big role getting the team prepared, Bearcat coach Caty Lieseke said.

“They were the ones ready to go,” she said. “They were leading the charge, even the moment the game ended yesterday, of, ‘Guys, we’re better than this. Let’s come out and show it.’”

They didn’t waste any time doing so.

Dean led off the game with a double and the first seven Bearcats to bat in the top of the first inning came around to score. Vadala hit a two-run single, Annika Waring followed her with an RBI single, Ava Fugate knocked in a run with a triple, and Paetynn Lopez added a two-run inside-the-park homer that put W.F. West up 9-0. Three batters later Waring hit her second two-run single of the first inning, and the Bearcats led 11-0 by the time the third out was recorded.

And with that hefty cushion, Vadala was at ease in the circle.

“(I pitched) a lot better,” she said with a laugh. “That was one of the things last night after the game, I went up and figured some stuff out at (pitching coach) Ken Gray’s, and I came out here today and felt a lot better, felt more confident going into it.”

Vadala carried a perfect game into the fourth inning before giving up a single to Hannah Porter. She worked four innings, striking six without issuing a walk.

“She’s been just phenomenal all season,” Lieseke said. “And it’s nice to get her in there with a lead, too. It’s been a while since she’s got to pitch with a lead.”

Taylor Barker highlighted the offense over the final three innings, hitting an RBI triple in the third, driving in two runs with a single in the fourth and homering to right field to score three runs in the fifth to finish 3 for 4 with six RBIs.

Vadala was 5 for 5, and W.F. West racked up 25 hits in five team at-bats.

“It was nice to see us string together some hits,” Lieseke said. “We’ve been looking a little bit lately like we were going for the fences, so it was nice to see nice, level swings and some ground balls up the middle. It’s different for us, and it’s good.”

Dean finished 2 for 5 with an RBI, Lopez was 4 for 5, Waring was 2 for 2 with four RBIs, Fugate finished 4 for 5 with a triple, a double and two RBIs, and Noelle Roberts was 3 for 5 with an RBI.

Waring pitched the fifth frame, getting a pop fly to first, a grounder to first and a strikeout to end the game.

W.F. West (11-3, 8-1 league) hosts Centralia (4-9, 3-6 league) in a rematch Thursday at Recreation Park.