TACOMA — W.F. West's Bre McAuley stood patiently at the plate as Selah pitcher April Jonas intentionally walked her in the seventh inning Friday afternoon at the 2006 State 3A Softball Tournament at SERA Fields.
It was the ultimate sign of respect.
McAuley had already burned Selah with a pair of three-run homers in what turned out to be an 8-0 victory in the first round. She added an RBI single Friday night as the Bearcats knocked off Kennedy 3-2 to reach the state semifinals.
W.F. West will get a familiar foe in the 11 a.m. semifinal today as the Bearcats face Pac-9 League rival Tumwater. The T-Birds shut out Lakes and Liberty on Friday.
W.F. West 8, Selah 0
McAuley had a somewhat surprised look on her face after she blasted her first three-run shot in the top of the first inning.
"It's been three years since I've hit a home run," the junior said with a big smile after the game. "I was sprinting and everyone was saying to slow down."
It didn't start out like a big inning for the Bearcats as Kendall Grant had a one-out single. She moved to second on a ground out and then raced home when Hally Bridgewater flared a single to center field.
Bridgewater drove in six runs at the district tournament and wasted little time picking up the pace at state.
After Kristen Clevenger walked, McAuley hit her shot over the left-field fence.
It gave the Bearcats a 4-0 lead before their defense ever took the field.
"That was just huge," said Bearcat coach Mike Keen. "It takes them (Selah) out of their game. It's so hard to come from behind in this game."
The lead was also a nice gift for freshman pitcher Lauryn Ticknor. She didn't need much help as she gave up just three hits to the Vikings.
"Not too bad for a freshman," Keen said.
Selah had just two players reach second base the entire game. One came in the second inning when Meggie Graf led off with a double. Arianne Judy then hit a sharp grounder to third baseman Shalene Petrich, who pumped a throw to first, and then fired to second to nail Graf for the first out.
Ticknor walked two and struck out three in her state debut. She didn't look nervous, but looks can be deceiving.
"She may not have looked it, but she was," said Keen with a grin.
McAuley said she was a little nervous at the start as well. The Bearcats have a ritual where everyone yawns to loosen them up before a game.
"Usually after the first pitch I'm OK," McAuley said. "But the first pitch was right in on my elbow. So I took the second pitch and then felt relaxed."
And the homer soon followed.
"I didn't think it was out," she said with a laugh.
It was still 4-0 in the fifth inning when the Selah first baseman, dropped what would have been the third out on a potential double play. Clevenger followed with a single, which brought up McAuley with two on and two out, again.
The result was the same.
"I was even more surprised by the second one," she said.
She shouldn't have been. There was not much doubt on either shot.
"Our first base coach (Jenny Taylor) had to yell at me to slow down," McAuley said. "Our team saying is 'hey, I don't know.' When I got to third coach Keen said 'hey, I don't know.'"
And she didn't know where the power surge came from.
"I just want to hit it hard," McAuley said. "This is just great. We have so much support from our school and parents. This is just great."
The middle of the Bearcat lineup was tough on Selah's Jonas. Bridgewater was 2-for-4 while Clevenger and McAuley were both 2-for-3. Grant and Lindsay Schmitt also had two hits apiece.
And the Bearcat defense didn't commit an error.
"This was everything you want in a first game," Keen said. "Everyone is a little nervous about that first game and to play like we did, is a real good confidence booster."
W.F. West 3, Kennedy 2
Kennedy pitcher Karli Merlich, a sophomore, is considered one of the top pitchers in the tournament and she showed why early.
But W.F. West showed some of its speed late and some clutch hitting was the difference in the quarterfinal victory.
Merlich, who had not given up an earned run the entire season, struck out seven of the first nine Bearcats she faced. W.F. West picked up a pair of bunt hits with two outs in the third, but failed to score.
It was the small ball that turned things around in the fifth.
With one out, Shalene Petrich reached on a bunt single. Petrich raced to second on a wild pitch and kept on motoring. Kennedy's Dew Spadoni threw to third, but a high tag allowed Petrich to slide in safely.
Grant then followed with a single against a draw-in infield and it was 1-0. Grant also moved up on a wild pitch and then she scored on Bridgewater's two-out single. McAuley added another two-out RBI single to make it 3-0.
And Ticknor made it stand up.
Kennedy picked up a run in the sixth when Merlich doubled and scored on a Spadoni single. Spadoni raced for second when the ball got away from Grant in center field, but the sophomore fired a shot to gun her down at second for the final out of the inning.
It proved to be a big out as Ashley Engel led off the seventh with a homer to left to cut the margin to one. But Ticknor retired the next three hitters in order to end the game.
"I told her (Ticknor) afterward that I was glad they hit that homer off her," Keen said. "It showed her that she could come back and finish the job. It showed the team she can do that. She showed a lot of poise today."
The Bearcats ended up with eight hits off Merlich, who struck out 10. Shalene Petrich, Grant and Bridgewater had two hits each. Ticknor gave up six hits and didn't walk anyone.
"She was really good," Keen said. "The girls thought she threw harder than (Lindsey) Vander Lugt (of Tumwater)."
Vander Lugt didn't give up a run in two games Friday, but the Bearcats have scored on her. Tumwater won the first meeting 8-7 and the second meeting 5-2.
"The thing we talked about is that we're not the same team that played them that second time," Keen said. "We are a much better team."
The other semifinal will feature Cedarcrest against North Mason. Both semifinal games are at 11 a.m. with the championship game set for 4:30 p.m.
