The Pe Ell-Willapa Valley had two days to flush its worst offensive outing against one of the best arms in the area and recollect itself. Coming back to Fort Borst for the final day of the 2B District 4 tournament, the Titans looked like a completely different side, hammering Raymond-South Bend 12-1 to punch their ticket to the 2B State tournament.
“Today, they just flushed it all,” PWV coach Eric Hopfer said. “We came ready to swing the bats, for sure.”
Not having to face Ocosta’s Jessie Gilbert again definitely helped, and the Titans took advantage of more mortal pitching early, jumping on the Ravens for two runs right off the bat when Lauren Matlock led off the first inning with a walk, Jillian Hodel singled, and Payton Peterson doubled both home.
Petersen finished a home run shy of the cycle, driving in five runs from the No. 3 spot in the order. Ahead of her, Matlock and Hodel both had three-hit days, and combined to score six runs.
The Titans stayed in add-on mode the rest of the way, coming around to score three more runs in the second, one in the fourth, two in the sixth, and four in the seventh.
That was enough and more for Lauren Emery, who tossed her second straight gem of the tournament. The PWV junior got 16 outs before allowing a hit, with the Raven’s lone baserunner in the first five innings coming on an error. RSB broke up the no-hit bid with one out in the sixth on a blooper of a fly ball that a diving Grace Huber barely missed in left field, but Emery left her on third base.
Emery finished with 10 strikeouts on the day, giving up just one walk and one run.
“She didn’t slow down, she didn’t back down even though she had to go the full distance,” Hopfer said. “She still stayed strong and kept hitting where she needed to. She was able to move in and out and keep even their bigger hitters off-balance so they didn’t get hits. She didn’t leave them where they wanted them to be.”
The win sends the reigning 2B state champions back to the big dance, though the Titans weren’t done with their day just yet. PWV faced Forks for third place Saturday afternoon in a game between two teams with bids already to their name.
Sunday, the Titans will learn their seeding fate, and head to Yakima next week.
“Really, that was our goal for the year,” Hopfer said. “Just for the fact that we have such a young team — and all brand new infield, new pitching — for us to be able to punch our ticket there… this is a pretty big accomplishment for these kids. I’m excited for them.”
