When the W.F. West High School softball team walked off the field at Carlon Park 10 months ago, it was an abrupt end to the season.
Just a week prior, the Bearcats were celebrating a Class 2A District 4 tournament title versus Aberdeen on their home turf. Then they go from an opening round loss as the No. 5 seed at state to two consolation wins to a 10-run shellacking against those same Bobcats.
So, the main priority for W.F. West this season is?
“We want to be four hours better,” longtime head coach Kevin Zylstra said. “To the average person, that doesn’t make a lot of sense. Everyday, we are working to get four hours better.”
Despite losing some key pieces that were four-year contributors, the Bearcats are seeking back-to-back trips to Selah and leave the east side with a trophy, something that has evaded them since 2022.
Those four extra hours in a game time setting are the sole motivation for a group that accomplished the revenge tour last spring to now attempt to play for a state championship.
“This group has a lot of grit,” senior shortstop Avalon Myers said. “We want it. W.F. West as a whole, we have a tradition of being a solid group of girls and we want to uphold that tradition.”
The pitching staff, even with former all-league hurler Emma Young in the mix, was deeper than W.F. West was used to. Zylstra wanted to use as many arms as possible, but settled into a consistent rotation.
Taylor Tobin and Monroe Dalrymple combined to start one game prior to last spring, but quickly established themselves as a premier 1-2 punch.
In a 3-1 start this season, Tobin has already notched a 10-strikeout and 12-strikeout performances in the circle.
“Once she gets dialed in, she can be as good as anybody,” Zylstra said. “You just have to change locations, change speeds, hit your spots and come in with the unexpected pitch. They (Taylor and Monroe) are two totally different pitchers.”
Offense has rarely been a problem over the last handful of years. The Bearcats mix in speed and average at the top, hard contact and power bats in the middle and high percentage of getting on base in the lower-third.
And while Myers plus junior infielder Addie Froschauer are back, a lot of others are settling into new roles.
Kenley Fragner, who split time at catcher with Aubree Nelson, is taking over full-time in center field. Nelson will be the primary player behind the dish. She was the hero in the district title game with the go-ahead home run.
“Just get our bats going,” Nelson said.
“We’re all pretty mature,” Myers added.
Zylstra mentioned Tanner Tobin, the twin of Taylor, who will be a relief option behind her sister and Dalrymple in the circle and a player that will be a consistent starter. Two freshmen – Karlee Coleman and Rayah Middleton – have already been impact bats.
“Don’t get ahead of ourselves,” Nelson said of the mindset.
W.F. West will likely have to go through Tumwater and Aberdeen to repeat as league and district champs. Those two feature Division I aces, but the Bearcats came out on the winning side of various meetings last year versus Ella Ferguson and Lilly Camp.
Since all three matchups count towards the Evergreen Conference standings, no stone will be left unturned.
“We’ve got girls that can hit the ball,” Zylstra said. “Against 2A teams, we usually do pretty well. It has to be the hitting that gets better and better.”
All in the mission to be better for four more hours.
