In its first game of the district tournament last spring, Toledo needed nine innings to score its first run in a walk-off win over Ocosta.
This time around, the Riverhawks needed just two batters to plate their first run, and they didn’t slow down after that.
A nine-run first set the stage for a blowout, and Toledo eventually got to 15 to run-rule North Beach 15-0 in the first round of the 2B District 4 Tournament.
The Riverhawks had 15 hits, including six extra-base knocks.
“We had a couple of Texas leaguers,” Toledo coach Jeff Davis said. “But most of our balls were hit hard, and that’s what we want to do.”
After Taysia Miller walked to leadoff the bottom of the first, Peyton Holter hit the first of eight hits in the first inning, and they added six more hits in the second. After two innings, Toledo led 14-0.
On the first pitch of the bottom of the third, Xtyn Norberg drilled a ball to right-center field and came all the way around for a run-rule walk-off inside-the-part home run.
Norberg finished 2 for 3 with the homer, a double, and three runs batted in, while Taysia Miller added two doubles and two RBIs. Kailea Lairson also drilled a double and drove in two as part of her two-hits day, and Peyton Holter added three hits and three RBIs.
By the end of the game, eight different Riverhawks tallied at least one hit and drove in at least one run.
Holter was just as impressive in the circle, where she struck out seven Hyaks and retired all nine that she faced.
“I’m so thankful that I have a team that can hit and have my back,” Holter said.
Holter now sits at 10-2 on the season with a 2.24 ERA and 119 strikeouts in 84.1 innings pitched, and her batting average is up to .481.
Prior to the start of the district tournament on Monday, she was named one of the C2BL’s three Co-MVPs alongside Adna’s Danika Hallom and Rainier’s Keira Anderson.
“Peyton was phenomenal,” Davis said. “She’s been there all season for us, and she’s getting stronger.”
Holter is one of the four Toledo sophomores with plenty of postseason experience. Together last spring, they made it to through districts and eventually qualified for the state semifinals before falling one win shy of a top-four placement in Yakima.
“I think last year gave us the motivation that we need for this year,” Holter said. “Just trying to get back to Yakima … We know what we can do when we play clean.”
Davis noted the group’s youth as a whole, as its all freshmen and eighth graders behind Holter, Lairson, Zaya Norberg, and Camryn Hurley, but he also noted that they knew they would have to step up after last season ended.
“They are our leaders,” Davis said. “They got to be a part of it last year, and I think they’re a good quartet leading the way. I am proud of the young group of leaders the sophomores are.”
The Riverhawks next test will come against Raymond-South Bend in a district quarterfinal at noon on Wednesday at Fort Borst Park. The two teams met in late April, and Toledo was able to pull off an 11-10 win.
If the Riverhawks are able to defeat RSB again, they’ll play the winner of Adna and Onalaska in a winner-to-state district semifinal at 4 p.m.
If they lose, they’ll play the loser of that matchup in an elimination game at 4 p.m.
“This is a tough district,” Davis said. “We hope to be in it and finish strong. We’ll see what happens the rest of the way.”
