Tigers Slide On To State Tournament

PASCO - The Tigers won a respectable second place in the 2B District 9 tournament at the TRAC Softball Complex in Pasco after falling to DeSales, 9-2, in an early evening game.

Sure, the Tigers would have loved to clinch the top spot in the district Friday night. But compared to last year when the WP softball team didn't make it to district tournament, the 2012 team battled for a chance to go to state with a lot more focus and success, coaches and players said this weekend.

"We put our minds to it and worked harder," starting pitcher Jennifer Nichols said. "We wanted to win more than we did last year."

The Tigers and Irish had already been guaranteed a berth at the state games in Yakima this weekend, so the contest was a seeding game. The Tigers face Adna at 11 a.m. Friday. The state tournament takes place at Yakima's Kiwanis Park.

But for two schools which have had a long-time rivalry, the Tigers played as much for pride as for a district title.

"Jennifer pitched a great game and kept the DeSales hitters from getting the big hits they've been getting," head coach Angie Potts said. "Unfortunately, our defense didn't back her up at times and we allowed too many runners on base."

The first inning was scoreless with WP batters facing De- Sales pitcher Ashlyn Lyons and the Irish facing a tight Tigers' defense. But a WP first-base error in the bottom of the second opened the door for an Irish run to third and an RBI that put De- Sales on the scoreboard.

A smart double play from Rhiannon Chapman kept the Irish from adding any more points. She caught a high fly ball, then threw it to second for a third out.

But DeSales returned the favor with a double play of its own and kept the Tigers scoreless. In the bottom of the third, the Irish loaded two bases on base errors, setting up the next Irish batter to send a hard line drive to score again before the Tigers' defense was able to contain the damage.

At the top of the fourth, WP brought its bats to life with a hit from Chapman that scored Hailey Goenen on Irish error. With the score at 2-1 in favor of De- Sales going into the bottom of the fourth, the Irish came back with an immediate response and added another point to the board before breaking the game wide open in the fifth, scoring three runs largely with infield grounders and a homer.

WP came back with one more run on a two-out single from Katie Hofer, but it was not enough the stem the tide. The Irish scored three more runs in the bottom of the sixth, ending the contest, 9-2.

Senior Dionna Baker caught a runner on second and stole a base herself during the game. But other than the double play and Nichols' pitching to contain the better Irish hitters, there weren't as many highlights as there could have been.

"We obviously had too many errors," Potts said. "We still have to clean up our defense."

In preparation for Friday's tournament, the team will focus on fielding the ball in tough situations and may need to change some of its current positions, Potts said.

"The hitting has been fine, though we could be a little bit more aggressive on bunting," the coach said. "Overall, we need to be more consistent."

Efforts were rewarded Sunday afternoon during the team's sports award potluck in Waitsburg's Preston Park.

Krystal Harris won Most Improved and Heidi Miller Most inspirational, while Baker and Goenen shared the MVP award.

Samantha Moss received an All Conference Honorable Mention. Baker, Goenen and Nichols got First Team All- Conference.

DeSales vs WP

DeSales011133x9

(12 hits, 2 errors)

WP0001012

(6 hits, 5 errors)

Hits: Baker 2, Brannock, Goenen, Moss and Hofer 1.