Kami Dacus, have a day.
The W.F. West junior entered the batter’s box in the bottom of the fifth, needing the rarest and most difficult of hits to complete the rarest and most difficult of hitting feats: a triple for a cycle.
Having already parked a homer, stung a double and poked a single, Dacus was a triple away from the best kind of four-hit day. And would you know, she got it, helping the Bearcats to an 11-1 thrashing of the visiting Black Hills Wolves.
Dacus finished 4-for-4 with four RBI and a run at the plate, and, would you know, also struck out 10 and allowed a single hit, which, funnily, was itself a home run.
Alisha Anderson went 3-for-4 for W.F. West, including a dinger herself, with two RBI and scored a trio of runs. Chase White added two hits, one a double, and two runs from the bottom of the order. Breanna Crosby drove in a pair, and Brielle Etter, Saige Brindle andsenior Anahbelle Lopez all drove in runs, as well. Brindle scored two runs, Etter scored one, as did Savannah Hawkins.
Undefeated W.F. West (13-0) finished atop the 2A Evergreen Conference.
The Bearcats receive a first-round bye then host a second-round game in the 2A EvCo playoffs at 6 p.m. on Tuesday.
Kaylei Clark and Liz Phelps combined for 14 strikeouts on the mound and Rochester rolled to an 8-0 shutout victory over Shelton on the road Wednesday.
Clark got the start and the win in the circle, striking out seven batters over three innings, while Phelps fanned seven across four innings of relief.
Freshman Staysha Fluetsch went 2-for-2 at the plate with a run scored, and Maddie Bates and Sadie Knutson each collected one hit and scored once.
Kassidy Byrd scored a run and drove in one, Phelps added a base hit and Faith Kennedy scored once, had one hit and drove in a run.
“Faith has been pretty consistent for us all season,” Rochester coach Tiffany Garcia said. “She’s always done a good job.”
The Warriors improve to 9-4 overall and take on Black Hills in the opening round of district on Tuesday in Chehalis.
Centralia was unable to recover from six blunders on defense in a 12-2 road loss to Tumwater on Wednesday in the regular-season finale
The Tigers and Thunderbirds each tallied eight hits as a team, with Centralia led by Gracie Schofield, Mikayla Chavez and Lily Babka each collecting two a piece. Schofield and Chavez were both 2-for-3 with an RBI while Babka was 2-for-2.
Ella Orr and Jadyn Hawley each added a hit and the Tigers only struck out four total times.
Centralia pitcher Peyton Smith surrendered seven earned runs on eight hits while walking nine and striking out four.
Centralia falls to 3-10 and has now lost three straight. The Tigers face Tumwater in the opening round of the 2A EvCo tournament at 4 p.m. on Tuesday in Chehalis.
