The Toledo softball team found its backs up against the wall Wednesday in Centralia, but the Riverhawks came back with a bit of fight, downing Toutle Lake 11-1 in a loser-out game at the 2B District 4 tournament.
“We were just solid, all the way down,” Toledo coach Jeff Davis said.
The Riverhawks found themselves in the must-win position after losing their first game Wednesday against Pe Ell-Willapa Valley, 12-5. Needing nails to bounce back, Toledo found them in the circle, where Bethany Bowen scattered three hits and four walks across five innings.
“Bethany did what she does,” Davis said. “We live and die by where she’s at, and she pitched good. And we cleaned up our defense.”
That defense committed seven errors in the loss to the Titans, but trimmed that down to two in the second game of the day.
On the other side of things, the bats, which scored three runs in the first inning against PWV before going quiet for the rest of that game, looked like they’d do the same in Game 2 after scoring a pair in the first and getting shut down for the next three frames. But in the fifth, the Riverhawks got the line moving, and didn’t let it stop until nine more runs were on the board.
“The fifth inning was great for us,” Davis said.
Two singles and an error loaded the bases with no outs for Brynn Davis, who cleared them with a double to make it 5-0. Bowen singled her home, making it 6-0 before the Ducks could get an out.
Free passes loaded the bases back up, and consecutive singles from Quyn Norberg, Abby Marcil, and Candace Clark pushed the lead to 11-0, temporarily leading the Riverhawks to believe they had just won on run-rule before cooler heads remembered that they were in fact the visitors and had to get three more outs.
“We were stinging it,” Davis said. “The hits were a pleasant happening for us.”
Bowen got those outs in time, giving up a run but leaving the runner who would have forced the game to continue on second.
Marcil finished 3 for 4 with a double, two RBIs, and three runs scored. Behind her, Clark went 2 for 4 with a double and three RBIs, and Kailea Lairson was 2 for 4, scoring a run and driving another in.
Toledo will move on to the final day of the tournament, coming back to Centralia on Saturday. The Riverhawks will face Forks in a winner-to-State game. If they win, they’ll play in the third-place game at 2 p.m. If they lose, they’ll play at 2 p.m. for a spot in a winner-to-State crossover game against Friday Harbor at 6 p.m.
