Kentlake isn’t known for playing small ball, but on Friday night that’s what earned the Falcons another fastpitch league championship banner.
In fact, Kentlake had a stretch of four games with a combined 50 runs scored, so the 4-0 victory over Spanaway Lake in which not a single run was earned for the South Puget Sound League crown was a bit out of character.
“We knew Cara (Custer) was a good pitcher,” said Kentlake senior Jessie Richardson. “We needed to score any way we could.”
The Falcons drew first blood in the top of the second when Maddie Brown hit a single between first and second base that went through the infielder’s legs. That allowed Libby Riehl to score.
In the top of the fifth, as senior shortstop Erika Smyth was attempting to steal third base, the throw went over the third baseman’s head allowing the Kentlake senior to take a wide turn over the bag and keep on going for the run and a 2-0 lead.
Kentlake picked up its third run in the top of the sixth on another error while Smyth made it 4-0 on yet another Sentinel error.
Spanaway Lake earned its spot in the title game when it beat Tahoma 1-0. The Sentinels picked up the victory after loading the bases in the bottom of the seventh and Angele Huebner drew a walk that sent the winning run in.
For Richardson, repeating as champions was special for her and the other three seniors on the team, but “most importantly, it sets us up in the best position possible going into districts.”
Kentlake earned its spot in the title contest with a 6-2 victory over Puyallup, the team it beat last year for the league championship, after earning the No. 1 seed out of the SPSL North by beating Tahoma on Tuesday, May 10, to break a tie for first place in the division.
Richardson said the two games it played on Friday gave the Falcons a taste of the kind of teams and pitching the squad will face Friday and Saturday at Sprinker Recreation Center in the West Central District tournament.
“We need to come out and play like we can,” Richardson said. “Today we played two of the most complete games we’ve played all year. We need to just come out and play our game and focus on one game at a time.”
Kentlake coach Greg Kaas said both of the league tournament games prepared his team well for what lies ahead. Kaas credited his seniors for their leadership.
“Our kids did a great job of responding,” Kaas said. “They (the seniors) do a good job of setting the tone for the team and the program.”
For example, junior pitcher Hannah Sauget won both games in the circle without giving up a single earned run in 14 innings.
While Kentlake has achieved its goals of a division and league titles, there’s bigger things ahead.
“The West Central District is such a tough tournament,” Kaas said. “We love the fact that we won the division championship and the league championship … but our goal is to get to state.”
The quickest way to do that is to win the first two games at the district tournament, like the Falcons did last year.
“Win two games before you lose two games,” Richardson said.
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CONQUERORS FINISH TOURNAMENT ON HIGH NOTE
Kentwood had a rough start to its tournament, losing 3-2 to Puyallup and then 10-0 to Thomas Jefferson, but came back to win 12-2 over Todd Beamer on Friday night to earn the No. 9 seed to the district tournament.
Kentwood coach Jason Wisor said he was pleased the team put together a win in the final game of the league tournament.
“It’s good, it’s really good,” Wisor said. “The story of our season was what happened Thursday against Puyallup. We’re a much better team than our record indicates.”
Kentwood came into the game with a 7-9 record in the SPSL North but it showed flashes of its potential with high scoring wins during the season.
In the victory over Beamer, Reagan Rudisill went 2-for-3 with a pair of singles and two RBIs while Allison Newcomb went 3-for-3 with a single, double, home run and four RBIs.
Bethany Pfaff pitched the complete game in the five inning win, collecting four strike outs and allowing just two hits.
Wisor is looking forward to the district tournament. He noted that the WCD will send eight teams, up from six last year, to the Class 4A state tournament in Spokane.
“It’s anybody’s game at this point,” he said. “So, we’ll see what we can do.”
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