YAKIMA — Vibes were high for the Napavine High School softball team before a pitch at the Class 2B state tournament was even thrown.
It wasn’t his birthday, but head coach Josh Fay hopped on the birthday saddle at Texas Roadhouse and let out a couple Yee-Haws in the process.
Then the 11th-seeded Tigers blitzed to a 7-0 lead against No. 6 Kittitas in the Round of 16. The rest of Friday after that ended up as a rollercoaster.
It featured a thrilling ending, one that left the Tigers in disappointment.
Ninth-seeded Northwest Christian scored two runs in the bottom of the seventh – the final one on a late throw home – that gave it an 11-10 triumph over Napavine in an elimination game on Friday night at the Gateway Sports Complex.
“Kids did a great job finding ways to put the ball in play,” Fay said.
This spring marked the first time the Tigers (17-7) were in the state tourney since 2018 when they closed a run of four runner-up finishes in five years. They fell to the Coyotes 9-8 before thumping No. 14 Warden 19-0 in five innings.
Getting to Yakima felt reachable even with just two seniors on the roster in Grace Pancake and Ellie Gilbert. The junior class led by Hayden Kaut, Taylen Evander and Hannah Fay showed out to put Napavine in position to have a high seed thanks to a C2BL runner-up finish and fourth place in districts.
Pancake became the first Napavine player in a handful of years to be a state participant in three sports over the athletic calendar year.
“It is really cool and it is like a brand new thing for us to be here,” Pancake said. “We were all sick and tired of losing.”
Down 7-0 after two innings against NWC, the Tigers used a five-run third to get back into the game. They slowly chipped away before tying the contest at 9-9 on a Tarynn Dalebout RBI single and scoring on an error one at-bat later.
The Crusaders tied the game at 10-10 in the bottom half on an RBI double, then a little chaos ensued.
Two batters later, eighth grade pitcher Dakota Lyons fields a grounder and throws home immediately, but Chlarice Carey retreats and gets herself into a pickle. Napavine goes to third and then fires home only for the throw to be late.
NWC proceeded to celebrate deep into the Yakima night.
“It is more not being in the situation,” Coach Fay said. “In a pressure cooker, you’re in a fight for your life. I know a couple kids would love that opportunity back.”
Coach Fay’s final message was a simple one afterwards.
“Finally watching these guys learn how to play for each other, they;rew a great group of kids,” he said. “I hope this is a great memory.”
The exact opposite happened on Friday morning, but the end result was similar.
Napavine’s early advantage was on the backs of RBI hits by Fay, Kaut and Makayla Brett. Elysa Nash erased all of it with a towering grand slam to even the score for Kittitas in the bottom of the second.
“No lead is safe in these games,” Pancake said. “Sucks to not win, but we made a lot of progress.”
Back-to-back singles and a walk promptly loaded the bases in the seventh with no outs and Dakota Lyons worked the count full and drew the RBI walk to make it 9-8. A strikeout, pop out in foul territory and a slow dribbler ended the comeback for the Tigers.
They proceeded to take it out on the Cougars by sending 17 batters to the plate in an 11-run first inning onslaught. The 19 runs in the elimination game ended up as the most for Napavine since upending Winlock 33-0 on April 28.
Over the three games on Friday, Fay totaled 11 RBIs. The 3-4-5-6 hitters in the lineup versus Warden all had multiple hits and runs batted in. Six different batters notched two hits against Kittitas.
Lyons came on in relief in the two losses and only allowed five earned runs total.
“She was outstanding,” Coach Fay said. “She’s put herself on the map. She’s gonna be a good one.”
Pancake said afterwards her plans for the future are undecided, but was hopeful she could play sports in college. She took photos with family and her teammates outside Field 3 in what was her final time playing for Napavine.
She didn’t take these last four years for granted.
“It has meant a lot,” Pancake said.
With most of the roster expected back for 2026, Coach Fay didn’t mince words when discussing what the potential could be in a year.
“We’ve got the pieces and there’s some more pieces coming,” he said. “Our goal on day one next March is going to be playing for hardware. I think it is reasonable.”
