YAKIMA — Entering the 2B State Tournament, Toledo coach Jeff Davis said that his team had a simple goal; Finish higher than they did last season, when they finished third.
The Riverhawks fell short of that goal on Saturday in Yakima, but they were still able to walk away with the fourth-place trophy after finishing their state tournament run 3-2.
“I’m extremely proud,” Davis said. “A lot of teams would trade places with Toledo today … We didn’t improve on the third-place finish, but as a team, we made a lot of strides and a lot of improvements from last year and over the course of this year. We improved, and that’s what you want to do.”
Toledo entered the day with its sights set on a state title, but lost to Adna in a semifinal 11-2. The Riverhawks bounced back in a big way, beating Napavine 12-10 in a consolation semi before falling to Liberty 19-7 in six innings in the third-place game.
“The caliber in this tournament when you get down to the top five or six teams is legit,” Davis said. “We have that in our league, we have that in our district, and we’re one of those legit teams.”
In the semifinal, the Riverhawks (21-7) fell behind early and never fully got back into the game, but they were able to flush it and jump out to a big lead on Napavine by scoring 10 runs across the first four innings.
The Tigers rallied to score seven in the seventh to make it a two-run game, but the Riverhawks were able to get the final out before the potential tying run reached base.
In the win against Napavine, Peyton Holter went 3 for 3 with three runs batted in, Brenna Carver added three hits and two RBIs, and Audrey Cooper also drove in two runs. Ellie Seely, Camryn Hurley, and Kailea Larison each added two hits.
In the third-place game, Toledo and Liberty went back and forth in the first two innings, but the Lancers outscored the Riverhawks 16-2 over the final four innings, including an eight-run sixth.
Taysia Miller hit a home run and drove in a pair in the loss, while both Carver and Xtyn Norberg added a double and an RBI as part of two-hit days. Zaya Norberg and Lairson added a hit and an RBI apiece.
After the Riverhawks did say goodbye to their two seniors, Rahkelle Miller and Emily Feigenbaum.
“Both of those seniors helped us to become who we were this year,” Davis said. “I appreciate them as people, and I’m gonna miss those two.”
Davis did note that everyone else, including all nine starters, will be back next spring, and they’ll have “the same goal as this year.” Next spring, the Riverhawks will try to break a streak of three straight semifinal losses and play for their first state title since 2001.
In the meantime, though, Davis was more than happy enjoying watching his team take photos with the fourth-place trophy, laughing with each other in between each picture.
“At the end, when you have a chance to reflect, the goal for all of these players is to focus on the good memories you made,” Davis said with a smile. “When you win more games, you have more good memories. This team had a lot of good memories.”
