TUMWATER — The message went up and down the Black Hills dugout more than once Monday, after a routine play, after a nervy play, after just about any break at all:
Today is the day.
Monday was, in fact, the day for the Wolves, who added yet another chapter into the chaos that is the 2A EvCo softball season with a 7-0 upset over league-leading W.F. West.
“Everything went our way, and we played the way I know we can,” BH coach Mike Vessey said. “That was the difference tonight.”
Zoey Theophilus threw yet another gem, her defense showed up, and the Black Hills bats up and down the lineup answered the call, and a side that’s lacked for any sort of win at all in recent years suddenly has one of the signature variety.
The history suggests that Monday is a shocker. Black Hills, after all, went seven years between league wins, before the Wolves broke that streak last month against Shelton. In that span, W.F. West has won multiple state titles. But on the field this time around, the Wolves didn’t just steal a fluke on daring baserunning and a couple lucky breaks to beat the Bearcats for the first time in at least a decade; they stood toe-to-toe with them and looked like they belonged the whole evening.
“We’ve been talking to them all year about playing with confidence,” Vessey said. “Because they have the ability, but mentally they just weren’t strong.
“And this game, from the beginning, they had it. That was the difference for me. From our warm-ups to the first pitch, it was like, ‘Ok, here we go. That’s what I’ve been trying to get all year.’”
The Wolves jumped out from the get-go. After Ella Young got two quick outs in the bottom of the first, Theophilus, Kailey Miller, and Sam West smacked back-to-back-to-back doubles, getting the hosts out to an early 2-0 lead.
That became 4-0 in the second on a bases-loaded walk and a sacrifice fly, and Theophilus had everything she needed to work with.
“She never gets flustered,” Vessey said. “That girl is solid all the way through. Mentally strong, physically strong, in the circle, at the plate. I’ve counted on her for years. She’s been our program for four years.”
Theophilus, the Central Washington commit, struck out seven and scattered six hits and three walks across seven innings. W.F. West put runners on base in all but one inning, but never got anybody so far as third.
And for the most part, she had nothing to get flustered about, as the Wolves played just about as good a defensive game as they could have.
“As long as I kept the ball in the air or on the ground, I knew my team would have my back and we would have a shot of winning the game,” Theophilus said.
On the other side, the Wolves tagged Ella Young for seven runs in 4 ⅓ innings, adding a three-spot in the fourth. W.F. West brought in Monroe Dalrymple in relief, and the sophomore kept Black Hills quiet, but it was too late.
Black Hills combined for 13 hits as a team, led by Madi Malone’s three at the top of the order. Theophilus, Miller, and West all went 2 for 3, racing base a combined seven times, and Brynna Elliot added another two-hit day at the bottom of the order.
Brielle Etter had two hits for the Bearcats.
The loss, combined with Tumwater’s win over Aberdeen, moves W.F. West down into second in the 2A EvCo. The Bearcats will try to get back on track Friday at Rochester.
Black Hills, meanwhile, is still multiple games out of playoff position, and realistically had to win all three of its remaining games to get in. But the Wolves look like they might have the confidence Vessey’s been looking for, and the first two of those games are against teams they’ve already beaten once before, starting with a game against Centralia on Wednesday.
“We’re capable of that, we just haven’t been consistent with it,” Vessey said. “That’s huge. I think this might be the first game where we all did our jobs; whatever was asked, they did. Now I expect us to roll with it."
