Centralia Defense Outstanding

Ramona Lorton was something else on the mound in Centralia's championship game with W.F. West Thursday. But, boy, let me tell you — that Tiger defense was something else as well.

At third base, Krista Church was a flat-out vacuum. Talk about hot corner. She was stabbing at and coming up with some seriously hot shots down the third base line. She made every play, too. The lone base hit W.F. West had in the game was an infield hit to her, but she still fielded the ball cleanly.

To her left, Tiger shortstop Lauren Liseth backed up Lorton on a couple of strange grounders back to the circle. One of the dribblers slipped right past Lorton, with Liseth coming through with a saving play.

After that particular incident, Lorton shared some laughs because she didn't (or just barely) touched the grounder as it went past her.

Then there was catcher Jordan Scherer. She made a play in front of the plate and threw the runner out trying to reach first base ... from her knees. Centralia coach Ken Olson's eyes widened a bit when he recalled that play. It was a dandy of a throw.

With the District IV 2A Softball Tournament just around the corner — it runs Thursday-Friday — how vital will defense be to the Tigers and W.F. West? They both feature good pitchers, but just how well can the pitchers pitch without a solid 'D' behind them?

It will be interesting to see this coming week.