Bulldogs Win Two Out Of Four At State

YAKIMA - Bulldogs may go down, but they don't go down easy.

Led by the likes of pitcher Kayla Turner, catcher Miwa Umeda and first baseman Rowene Huwe, the Dayton softball team didn't place but made it one round further than any of their state-bound predecessors in recent years.

The feisty team won its first game against Reardan Friday morning but took it in the chin from Adna that same evening at the Gateway Complex in Yakima.

Adna ended up taking the tourney crown of the state 2B softball tournament this weekend, which also saw the Lady Bulldogs coming back to life on Saturday. They defeated Liberty Bell, then barely lost against Toutle Lake after a promising late rally that wasn't quite enough to win the game.

"We had a very successful trip to the state tournament," assistant coach Desirae Jones said. "It was definitely a great team effort."

After Umeda, a Brazilian exchange student, caught the first pitch in the opening ceremony, Dayton came out swinging in its first game against Readan. The dawgs allowed only one run in the first inning and never looked back.

In the bottom of the second, Shelby Smith popped a hard high ball over center field for a third base hit that helped the team shed its nerves and ignited its hitting. She came in on a Claire Lyman sacrifice bunt for the first Bulldogs score.

Dayton scored twice in the third and twice again in the fourth with Turner allowing only two hits from Reardan the entire game and with tight defense from McKayla Bickelhaupt, Rowena Huwe, Umeda, Lyman and the outfielders.

The Lady Bulldogs registered 10 hits and 5 runs, with Umeda hitting three and 2 RBIs. Smith had a triple.

"We hit well," Bickelhaupt said. "We played with a lot of confidence and that helped us."

But that confidence and first win didn't add up to enough momentum to get something going against tourney winner Adna.

That Friday night game prompted the mercy rule after Adna limited the Bulldogs to just three hits, while scoring 10 runs on five hits to put Dayton away by the fifth inning.

"We faced the best pitcher we have seen yet against Adna," said Jones. "Adna went on to the win the tournament,

10-running the second place team Pe Ell."

But the dawgs came back on Saturday morning, steamrolling over Liberty Bell 11-1 with some extraordinary defensive athleticism. Lyman made a diving catch behind second base for the first out of a triple play. She flipped the ball to Jessica Tate at second. Tate in turn fired it to Huwe at first to catch both runners off base from the line drive hit.

"This sparked momentum change in the third inning and their (Dayton's) bats finally came alive," Jones said.

The Bulldogs scored three runs of their own and followed it up with eight more over two innings. This time, it was Dayton that triggered the mercy rule, with Turner allowing no more runs, striking out three players and keeping the Mountain Lions' contact with the ball to just four hits.

Aided by seven errors from Liberty Bell, nine Bulldogs had hits against the Mountain Lions.

The fighting spirit carried over into game four, in which Dayton was the first to score. But after the first run in the first inning, Toutle Lake came right back in the bottom of the second with six runs from three hits and three walks that suddenly put the dawgs five points behind.

But these weren't sleeping dawgs lying down. Dayton came back with a double from Nicole Lambert, a single from Tate and a walk from Bickelhaupt to load the bases, ready for Malia Frame to fire a two-run single and Huwe to hit a sacrifice fly that brought in two more runners.

But in the tough seesaw action of game four, Toutle Lake expanded its lead with four more runs, including a triple from Joelle Iverson, to 10-5 in the bottom of the fourth.

The Bulldogs tried to rally at the top of the seventh, but the two runs by Sam Harting and Umeda weren't enough to turn the tide. The final score stood at 10-7.

The Bulldogs finished the season with an impressive 18-5 record, thanks in large part to the team's senior leadership, Jones said.

Turner pitched all but one inning during the tournament, while Umeda was rock solid behind the plate. She received the sportsmanship award after the first game against in Reardan, recognition that capped her first and only season with Dayton.

"Our seniors led us well in their last state appearance," Jones said. "Some of our big hitters stepped up and got big hits, but we also had some of our younger, less experienced girls step and get the hits too.

"They had their ups and downs, challenges and disappointments, but they also met so many goals," she concluded. "It was a fun experience that the girls will always remember."

Game 1:

Reardan 1000001-1run,2hits,1error

Dayton 012200x-5runs,10hits,3errors

Reardan Battery: Heath and Lillengreen

Dayton Battery: Kayla Turner and Miwa Umeda

Hits for Reardan: Lillengreen, Wiedmer

Hits for Dayton: Kayla Turner, Sam Harting 2, Miwa

Umeda 3, Nicole Lambert, Claire Lyman, Rowene Huwe,

Shelby Smith

Hitting highlights: Miwa Umeda 3 hits and 2 RBIs,

Shelby Smith had a triple

Game 2:

Adna 001144-10runs,5hits,1error

Dayton 00000x-0runs,3hits,5errors

Adna Battery: Williams and Brattain

Dayton Battery: Kayla Turner, Sam Harting (6), and

Miwa Umeda

Hits for Adna: Hoke, Anderson, Brattain, Williams,

Moerke

Hits for Dayton: Kayla Turner, Miwa Umeda, Nicole

Lambert

Game 3:

LibertyBell 10000-1run,3hits,7errors

Dayton 00354-12runs,10hits,5errors

Liberty Bell Battery: Reggiatore and Pennock

Dayton Battery: Kayla Turner and Miwa Umeda

Hits for Liberty Bell: Ebbert, Reggiatore, Higbee

Hits for Dayton: Kayla Turner, Sam Harting 3, Miwa

Umeda, Nicole Lambert, Jessica Tate, Shelby Smith, Claire

Lyman, Courtney Mings

Hitting highlights: Sam Harting 3 for 4 with 2 RBIs, Nicole Lambert 3 RBIs, Jessica Tate 2 RBIs, Courtney Mings

(freshman) got to bat once and got a hit and an RBI, Shelby

Smith had 2 stolen bases, Miwa Umeda had a triple.

Game 4:

Dayton 1004002-7runs,10hits,1error

ToutleLake 060400x-10runs,13hits,3errors

Dayton Battery: Kayla Turner and Miwa Umeda

Toutle Lake Battery: Deffenbaugh and Iverson

Hits for Dayton: Kayla Turner, Miwa Umeda, Nicole

Lambert, Jessica Tate, Shelby Smith, McKayla Bickelhaupt, Darci Hall, Malia Frame, Claire Lyman, Rowene

Huwe

Hits for Toutle Lake: Kent, Hockett 2, Iverson 2, Flatz

2, Newsbaum 2, Levang, Bloomstrom, Comstock, Deffenbaugh Hitting highlights: Nicole Lambert had 3 sacrifice hits

and a double, Malia Frame had 2 RBIs, Rowene Huwe had

2 RBIs, Sam Harting had 2 stolen bases, almost every girl

that played in this game got a hit including Darci Hall who

only had one at bat.