Five pitchers went into the circle and all of them struggled to control their grip. Pelting rain made softballs slippery and towels turned a different color in a flash. Even on the turf field at Recreation Park, a puddle the size of a laptop formed in between first and second base.
W.F. West and Kelso’s softball teams battled the elements, each other and extended innings on Tuesday night.
“It was unique,” Bearcats head coach Kevin Zylstra said.
You can say that again.
The Bearcats and Lassies combined to score 19 runs in the span of an inning and barely any pitches went cleanly into the catcher’s mit, yet the 2A EvCo program avoided an all-time blown lead to beat the 3A GSHL squad 12-10 in five innings in Chehalis.
The final stat breakdown goes as follows.
Walks allowed: Kelso 12, W.F. West 9.
Wild pitches: Kelso 8, W.F. West 4.
Total pitches/strikes thrown: Kelso 135/59, W.F. West 152/81.
Outfield lights falling down: One.
Oh, and the Bearcats (2-0) nearly collapsed up 12-0 by allowing a 10-spot in the top of the fourth. Taylor Tobin, who was taken out after the third inning, re-entered with two outs and the tying run in scoring position. After loading the bases with an eight-pitch walk, Tobin struck out Kelso’s Brooke Hefley to stop the bleeding.
W.F. West’s ace picked her team up when it needed her the most.
“We had her get warm at like seven (runs),” Zylstra said. “She came in and did a great job. A lot of zip on the ball. I was really pleased to see that.”
Tobin herself struggled with command early, asking for the driest ball a couple times in the fifth to shut the door on the Lassies. Both coaches and umpires agreed during a period of heavy rain that the game would be called, regardless of score, after five frames.
For W.F. West, it's upended two higher classification programs to open the season. It faces two more 3A schools in North Thurston and Prairie in the non-league part of the schedule as well as Woodland, the team that eliminated them from the 2A District 4 tournament last spring.
The Bearcats motto for this campaign is “Together, we rise.” They’ve gone through a two years out of three dry spell of missing the state tournament after a two-decade streak of consecutive trips.
Zylstra feels this roster, with only two seniors, won’t be an easy out.
“We have great team chemistry,” he said. “We give up a 10-spot, how often do we do that? Nothing fazes these girls.”
Sophomore Aubree Lloyd, who was primarily on JV but did hit two varsity home runs last season, hammered a 2-2 pitch over the center field fence in the bottom of the second to give W.F. West a vital 3-0 lead.
Karlee Coleman deposited a rocket over the left-center field fence to up the lead to four runs. Then the downpour occurred and over the next 20-plus minutes, the Bearcats added eight more to their total by simply not swinging.
Eight different hitters drew at least one walk on the night.
“Especially early in the season, everybody wants to impress,” Zylstra said. “You want to swing the bat and show everybody what you can do. To have the discipline to work at-bats and turn the lineup over, to me that’s good stuff.”
Senior Linnea Whaley and junior Tanner Tobin battled through the top of the fourth when Kelso mounted its rally. The defense misplayed a pair of ground balls to keep the inning going. Still, Zylstra is banking on better outings on sunnier days.
“That wasn’t indicative of what Linnea and Tanner can do,” he said. “We move on from this game. We went with a lot of fastballs. It is hard to get spin on the ball. The pitching conditions were brutal. We’ll bounce back.”
Coleman recorded two hits and three RBIs for W.F. West while Tinsley Tobin and Lloyd scored twice. Its lineup is far from set in stone before the Evergreen Conference opener versus Black Hills, but its options are deep.
To go along with six juniors, the Bearcats also have four sophomores and three freshmen that could vie for at-bats.
“We’re giving a lot of kids a shot,” Zylstra said. “Finding spots for everybody that is hitting the ball (well) is job No. 1 for me. There’s ebbs and flows. Use them when they’re hot, basically what it boils down to.”
