THUNDERBIRDS 14, RAPIDS 0 (5 inn.) BEARCATS 13, SPUDDERS 12 (9 inn.) The W.F. West softball team has been atop the 2A District 4 ladder for the better part of the last decade and a half, with 10 district titles in the last 12 tournaments since 2012. Tumwater has idled a rung or two down from the Bearcats on that same ladder over the same time period. The Thunderbirds have historically been unable to get over the districts hump, losing in the semifinals seven times and in the title game once in their last 12 tournaments. Consider that ladder climbed. The T-Birds knocked off the Bearcats 8-2 in the district semifinals at Recreation Park Thursday night in a contest that started nearly two hours after its expected start time due to W.F. West and Ridgefield playing in a nine-inning marathon in the quarterfinals. Tumwater was more than warmed up while the Bearcats finished their quarterfinal, as the T-Birds handled Columbia River 14-0 earlier in the day in the quarters. As W.F. West clashed with Ridgefield, Tumwater ace Ella Ferguson and Jaime Haase were all alone on Field 1 warming up an hour before they eventually threw any pitches that counted. “This is her year. This is her senior year. She’s ready to go do whatever she’s got to do to get it done this year,” Tumwater head coach Shaunie Kennedy said of Ferguson. “She’s always ready to go.” The T-Birds weren’t just physically ready. They’ve been mentally ready, thanks to Kennedy’s mantra of “climb the ladder.” They were determined to give themselves a state berth and a shot to win their first district championship since 2006 when they triumphed at the 3A level. “We’ve just been climbing the ladder. That’s our goal. Just keep climbing,” Kennedy said. Ferguson started the day by shutting down Columbia River, allowing just one hit and three walks across four scoreless innings while striking out seven. She also batted a perfect 3-3, including a fourth-inning home run to center field. She followed that up with a season-best 16 punchouts against W.F. West with just two hits and two runs surrendered to go with four walks. For the senior, every game, every inning, every pitch is an opportunity to get closer to the elusive state championship that Tumwater was painfully close to winning last spring. “It’s just climbing up the steps one by one. After we lost the state championship last year, we were just hungry. We flipped it right over,” Ferguson said. “To go in there and to be so hungry for so long…now we’re finally here and are able to show that on the field. We’ve had this goal for so long, and now that we’re finally here, we’re gonna take it and run with it.” Tumwater built its lead against the Bearcats early, scoring once in the first inning and two on a Ferguson single in the second. In the third, Haase rocked a two-run double down the left field line, and Ferguson added another RBI on a sacrifice that produced a Bearcats error. Another error gave Tumwater a 7-0 lead in the third. The only damper on Ferguson’s dominant day was a two-run home run by Monroe Dalrymple in the fifth to get W.F. West on the board, but it didn’t bring too much damage as Tumwater prevailed 8-2. The T-Birds flashed their power across their two games, with eight of their 20 hits for extra bases. “We’ve been working for the last few weeks on adjusting at the plate for what kind of pitches we have. No excuses. We’re just going up there, finding the ball and hitting the ball,” Kennedy said of her team’s approach at the plate. The Bearcats will not play in the district title game for just the third time in the last 12 years. Their day was much more laborious than Tumwater’s; their quarterfinal game against Ridgefield lasted about three and a half hours. W.F. West built a 7-1 lead going into the bottom of the third, but the Spudders chipped away with two in the third, fourth and sixth innings to force extras. The Bearcats’ bats exploded in the ninth, capped off by a two-run home run by Avalon Myers to make it 13-7. Trailing by six runs and down to their last three outs, the Spudders made a miraculous and controversial comeback attempt to extend the game. Ridgefield scored on its first three at-bats of the frame, and, with runners on second and third, a ground ball found pitcher Taylor Tobin, who threw to catcher Kenley Fragner to attempt to tag Madeline Bruguier at home. Bruguier’s slide appeared to be wide of the plate, but the umpire called an obstruction on Fragner and the runner safe to the dismay of Bearcats coach Kevin Zylstra, who was ejected from the game and did not coach the semifinals. Clinging to a 13-11 lead, W.F. West gave up another run to Ridgefield on a groundout but was able to strand the tying run at third on a popout to end a thrilling game that saw Tobin throw a staggering 193 pitches. “I love the way we fought back because we definitely had our backs against the wall. I’m so proud of our girls, and things got tight there at the end, but we got the outs when we needed them,” Zylstra said. The Bearcats couldn’t find any offense against Tumwater, however, with just two hits, and their defense logged six errors. Despite the loss in the semis, Zylstra credited his team and his staff for getting ready to play a semifinal after such an emotional and lengthy quarterfinal. “It was just one of those games where, right now, they’re a better team and they’ve got a few more weapons than we do,” he said of Tumwater. “That was the difference in the score.” Tumwater (18-3, 13-2 EvCo) will face unbeaten Mark Morris in the district title game Friday at 6 p.m., while W.F. West (14-9, 9-6 EvCo) draws Woodland in a winner-to-state, third-place contest Friday at 4 p.m.
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