WP Wins First Fast-Pitch District Title

WALLA WALLA - If there was one moment that sparked the WP Lady Tigers' momentum Friday, it was Sam Moss' catch on the fence in the third inning that shielded them against a third Dayton home run and marked the beginning of her team's comeback against the Bulldogs.

Already behind 8- 0 against a Dayton team that obviously came to play, it was exactly the kind of catch the Tigers needed to retrieve their passion, find their groove and settle into the game. Moss caught the hit, then fell back against the fence and hung onto her booty.

"That woke them up a little bit," head coach Angie Potts said. "It was one person making an outstanding effort and everyone catching that same excitement and off we went."

In the bottom of the third, WP scored six runs to pull within 2 against the Bulldogs 8-6 and they scored another 4 in the fifth inning to take the lead. In the top of the seventh, Dayton squeezed out one run, but it wasn't enough to reverse the tide and the Tigers hung on to the thinnest of margins to get past Dayton 10-9 in the first seeding game.

"Dayton came to play and we battled a lot of nervousness," Potts said. "We got off to a horrible start, but Dayton made some errors and our girls got more aggressive in taking advantage of them."

The head coach said after Moss' catch, the Tigers "started making the plays they needed to make. They settled down and started playing the way they can."

They continued to do so against DeSales, which until Friday was undefeated in league and had swept WP 8-1, 8-0 in the only other encounter between the two teams this season.

Guaranteed second in district, the Tigers went into their game against the Irish "with nothing to lose," Potts said. "Our comeback against Dayton gave them the confidence they needed."

The Irish (17-5) started off the scoring with a run in the second inning. But WP came right back with two runs of its own in the same in the third when Samantha Henze reached safety on a DeSales error and was brought in by a Logan Harshman with a double. Chelsea Brannock then sent another base hit up the middle, bringing in Harshman in for the second run of the inning.

Coming into the game with few expectations, the Tigers suddenly realized they were playing well against the undefeated team and had momentum on their side, Potts said. "We had five errors during the game but that were critical or could hurt us."

Each time a minor blip occurred, the girls kept their composure and moved on, she said.

"They didn't dwell on the mistakes they made," Potts said. "They didn't hang their heads and that made a huge difference."

The game remained close, particularly after De- Sales got another run in the fourth. The game was tied at 2-2 through the seventh, forcing extra innings. At this point, WP had luck on its side as well.

First up to bat, Samantha Fedderson struck out but made it to first on a dropped ball. Brannock made a sacrifice bunt to advance Fedderson's substitute runner and paved the way for Heidi Miller, who got a line drive that scored the Tigers' third run of the game.

In their offensive inning, DeSales was unable to regain the upper hand despite the Irish hitters' best efforts. Miller threw out a DeSales single hitter on first for the third out and WP's celebration began.

"Obvious, it feels good to beat a team that has beaten you pretty badly," Potts said. "But much more important to the girls was their first championship win. We've been in the (title) game before but were never able to pull it out."