After a tumultuous 48 hours, when the dust cleared Friday night in a game scheduled to determine the 2A Evergreen Conference’s final district bid between W.F. West and Rochester, the Bearcats came out on top in a do-or-die contest, 8-4, at Rec Park in Chehalis.
The win clinches the EvCo’s No. 4 seed for the Bearcats, who will play next in a 2A District pigtail matchup against the Greater St. Helen’s League No. 5 next Tuesday at Rec Park for the last district spot, and a matchup against GSHL No. 1 Ridgefield.
Rochester, which had to defeat Tumwater and these same Bearcats a week ago to get to this point, saw its season come to an end Friday afternoon.
After some confusion over the league standings and seedings ended with the Bearcats and Warriors having to duke it over for the final district spot, and a date with the GSHL in the pigtail contest next week, both teams flushed out all the noise and focused on the task at hand Friday afternoon.
“We flushed everything as quick as we could,” WFW coach Kevin Zylstra said. “We had a team meeting Thursday morning and we hashed everything out. It doesn’t matter what we think, what matters is we’re playing Friday afternoon and we’re playing a really good team.”
The Bearcats got off to a hot start, with Avalon Myers hitting a deep shot to center field that popped out of a Rochester outfielder’s mitt and over the fence for a 2-run homer in the first inning.
The Warriors and Bearcats then exchanged runs over the next two half-innings, before each team’s bats went quiet in timely moments, until the fifth. W.F. West opened up a 7-run lead, scoring five runs that included Myers hitting for another RBI, Saige Brindle knocking in a run on a sacrifice fly, and Rachel Gray knocking in two more runs on a double.
“That gave us some breathing room and then in the fifth we put up five and we needed every one,” Zylstra said.
The Warriors, however, wouldn’t go down quietly.
Ella Young had kept the Warrior bats at bay for most of the game — going 5 1/3 innings and allowing seven hits, with three strikeouts and five walks — but ran into trouble after hurting her foot in the sixth, walking two straight batters.
Zylstra went to his sophomore arm, Monroe Dalrymple, to finish the game, and the righty allowed three runs, but buckled down and finished the job in the sixth and seventh to preserve the win.
Dalrymple led both baserunners score on a Layna Demers double in her very first at-bat, but settled down and allowed just one more unearned run on a sac fly before recording the final five outs.
Before the seventh, Zylstra went to Dalrymple and told her the team needed her, and asked her, “You got it?”
The sophomore responded dead-panned: “Yeah, I got it.”
“I love that response,” Zylstra said. “She’s very mature for being a sophomore. Monroe came in and did great. Basically a rookie pitcher and you throw her into a loser-out game, she was clutch.”
At the plate, Myers finished 2 for 4 with two runs scored, three RBIs, and the home run in the first inning. Brielle Etter went 2 for 4 with two runs scored, and Rachel Gray went 1 for 2 with two runs scored, two RBIs, and a walk drawn while also playing steady behind the plate at catcher.
For the Warriors, who had to battle back throughout the season after digging themselves into a hole in the middle of the year, Kassidy Byrd got off to a hot start in the circle. Byrd pitched three innings, allowing three runs with two earned on two hits, with no walks and strikeout.
Demers finished the final three innings and allowed five runs on four hits and four walks with two strikeouts.
At the dish, Kaylei Clark went 2 for 4 with a run scored and Cheyenne Justice went 3 for 4.
Kaylee Demers, Jessa Lenzi, Roisin Stull, Clark, Byrd, and Guilia Goretti played their final games for the Warriors Friday night.
“When I was coming in last year as a coach, we needed to bring positivity,” Warriors coach Joni Lancaster said. “No matter what happens we had to stay together and support everyone. We over me. Just support each other and have fun and good things will happen.
“We had our backs against the wall for a large part of this season and we fought and fought. We got right there, two weeks ago I never thought we’d be playing in this game. I’m really proud of each and every one of these girls.”
The Bearcats and Warriors had to play one another for the final 2A EvCo spot because there was a three-way tie for third in the league, with Centralia, Rochester, and W.F. West all tied at 7-5.
Because the Tigers were 3-1 in league games against Rochester and W.F. West, they were awarded the No. 3 seed, and the Warriors and Bearcats had to play for the final position.
Now, the path is clear for W.F. West. Tuesday night, back at Rec Park, the Bearcats will take on the GSHL’s No. 5, which is to be determined, for the final district spot and a date with one of the top teams in the state in No. 1 Ridgefield. Lose, and the Bearcats’ season is over.
“I don’t care who we play, we just have to keep going,” Zylstra said. “When we’re loose and feeling good and loud in the dugout, we’re tough to beat. I’ll take this team any day.”
