Emotions were high during the morning hours of Saturday, May 24, as, for the first time in school history, the Rochester Warriors qualified for a state championship softball game.
After defeating Cedar Park Christian 7-2 in a 1A semifinals matchup on Saturday at the Columbia Playfield in Richland, the Warriors will play top seeded Montesano at 4 p.m. in the 1A State Championship.
Rochester’s head coach, Joni Guerrero, told The Chronicle after the win that she’s proud of her team for “trusting the process” and grinding out a win against Cedar Park Christian.
“There’s tears, but good tears,” Guerrero said after the win. “When you do something like this, it’s hard work paying off. We did what we needed to do, and everything that we’ve done is paying off, and obviously it shows. That’s where those tears were coming from. The seniors were at a loss for words, but excited. Even I had some tears in my eyes, and I never cry.”
Senior pitcher Layna Demers was once again on the mound for Rochester. She provided yet another gem of a performance for the Warriors. She struck out 11 batters. Both of Cedar Park Christian’s runs came after throwing errors in the field.
Guerrero described the senior as “an ultimate competitor” and said that Demers “probably wants it more than anyone.”
“Like I said yesterday, any time Layna (Demers) is on the mound, we have a good chance at beating everyone in the state,” Guerrero said. “I don’t care who it is. She’s a competitor. She wants to be on the mound and does everything right. If the bases were loaded and there were no outs, I wouldn’t be stressed out. She’s always on the money. She’s given us all she’s got, and she’s done that the last four years.”
The contest initially looked to be a pitcher’s duel between Rochester’s Demers and Cedar Park Christian’s Shelby Southard as the game was tied at 1-1 until the top of the fifth inning when the Warriors’ bats woke up.
Rochester senior infielder McKenna Vassar began the rally for the Warriors in the top of the fifth inning with an infield single. Following a single by Demers with runners on first and second base, senior Hailey Boyd smacked a two-RBI single to put Rochester ahead, 3-1
Following the go-ahead RBIs from Boyd, Rochester’s lead was never in question. The team added four insurance runs in the top of the sixth inning after an RBI double from senior outfielder Piper Quarnstrom, an RBI walk and a two-RBI single from junior second baseman Arissa Lebaron to put the contest out of reach at 7-2.
“Once somebody sparks that lineup, it’s almost untouchable,” Guerrero said. “When you play a private Christian school, and they’re able to recruit — I’m just proud of my 20 who are from Rochester, K-12. I like the fact that our 20 in the dugout today are Rochester through and through.”
Though Guerrero is proud of her team for their history-making performance in the semifinals against Cedar Park Christian, she emphasized that the job isn’t finished yet, as the Warriors are hoping to bring home their first ever softball state championship.
“We did stuff today that we hadn’t been doing in the past and it cost us some games. Today we had a lot of clutch hits that we hadn’t seen a lot of recently. We’ve been preaching when girls get on, do your job and put the ball in play. Keep it simple and let us work,” Guerrero said. “We will keep trusting the process. It’s good to see when you preach something, your athletes follow it. That’s what gets me.”
