Bearcats Drop 7 in 1st, Run-Rule Tigers

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The W.F. West softball team had a score to settle at Rec Park on Wednesday against Centralia.

“We had a real intense practice yesterday,” WFW coach Kevin Zylstra said. “I think their pride was hurt the last time we played these guys, and they were on a mission today.” 

Score, settled.

The first Bearcat team to need a bounceback win over their rivals from the Hub City in over a decade got it in decisive fashion, pouring on the runs in a five-inning, 12-2 win.

The Tigers, who jumped on Ella Young in their 5-3 win back on March 28 at Fort Borst, jumped on her again for two runs in the top of the first inning. But then the Bearcats got their chance to throw a punch, and didn’t miss. 

A single and two errors with one out loaded the bases for Savannah Hawkins, who drilled a 2-RBI single back up the middle to tie things up at 2-2. Saige Brindle put Peyton Smith’s next pitch into left field to give W.F. West the lead, and Rachel Gray kept things going with an RBI single to make it 4-2.

From there, a pair of two-out walks loaded the bases and turned the lineup card back over for Brielle Etter, who broke things open for good with a two-run double to right.

W.F. West added another run in the second on another Gray RBI. In the third, Avalon Myers brought two in on a double, before Hawkins launched one of the deepest home runs in the area this season, nearly clearing the building beyond the left-field fence for a two-run blast.

“My first thought was, ‘Oh my God, my truck is parked behind that building,’” Zylstra said. “I thought it was safe back there. But that was great to see. She’s been her toughest critic, and it’s great to see her do that. Now she’ll cut loose the rest of the season. I’m looking for big things from her.”

Etter, Myers, Hawkins, and Gray all had two-hit days for the Bearcats, who racked up 10 knocks against Smith. Thanks to four errors in the field behind her, just two of the 12 runs Smith took on her final line were earned.

“There were some errors in some big spots there that could have got us out of it a lot sooner,” Centralia coach David Orr said.

The Tigers got to work against Young early, doing their best to replicate the good outing against her in March by jumping on the first good pitch they saw. It worked in the first inning; Gracie Schofield singled on the first pitch of the game, and after Judy Vallejo reached on an error, Makayla Chavez and Hollynn Wakefield hit back-to-back RBI singles.

“I think (Young) started trying to get ahead throwing strikes, and they jumped on them,” Orr said. “After that, Kevin’s a good coach. He recognized that real quick and he slowed it down. He called the right pitches, and we couldn’t stay back.”

Young only finished with one strikeout, but retired eight straight to end the game. Eleven of the 15 outs she recorded came on fly balls or pop-ups.

“If it was in the air, we had an out,” Zylstra said.

With the win, W.F. West keeps its half-game lead atop the 2A EvCo standings, ahead of Tumwater and Aberdeen. Centralia falls out of the tie for second place with the T-Birds and Bobcats — who both won on Wednesday — into fourth.

The Tigers will get right back to it, playing at Tumwater on Thursday, while The Bearcats are set to host Rochester on Friday.