LACEY — The 3A state softball tournament didn’t go quite the way Edmonds-Woodway hoped, but the Warriors did leave Lacey with one hard-fought victory.
After Bainbridge rallied to tie the teams’ first game of the day in the bottom of the seventh inning, Edmonds-Woodway got two runs in the top of the eighth and held on to defeat the Spartans 7-6 to advance to the 3A state quarterfinals.
The Warriors lost to Kamiakin 13-3 in the quarterfinals and then fell to last year’s 2A state champion Lake Washington 5-1 in a loser-out game to end its run at the Regional Athletic Complex in Lacey.
“It was a great run for us,” Edmonds-Woodway head coach Mike Venable said. “I really appreciate the effort that everybody put in. We improved throughout the season. … Once we were here, that first win was really exhilarating.
“After that, we didn’t play quite as well. But still I told the girls it was a great season, a successful season. It’s the first time in 17 years that Edmonds-Woodway has gone to the state tournament, so you’ve got to be proud of that. And we’ve got a great group coming back. We’re only losing two senior starters from this year. We’ve got a good core that hopefully can get us back here for the next couple of years.”
An RBI double by the Warriors’ Heidi Davis broke the tie in the eighth against Bainbridge and then Davis scored what proved to be the game-winning run on an error. Edmonds-Woodway (17-10 overall) then took an early lead against Kamiakin, the three-time defending state champion, before the Braves scored six runs in the third inning and five in the fourth to pull away.
In their final contest, Edmonds-Woodway got two hits against Lake Washington (25-2) hurler Tori Bivens, including a solo home run by junior Taylor Jones.
The Warriors played their final two games without their four seniors, who left after the Bainbridge game to attend their high school prom. Venable brought up some junior-varsity players to cover but the seniors’ absences impacted Edmonds-Woodway.
“It was difficult, but the girls stepped up and did fairly well,” Venable said. “It did hurt us a little bit, but that’s not the reason we lost.”
At Regional Athletic Complex
Ed-Woodway 011 300 0 2—7 11 0
Bainbridge 100 003 1 1—6 10 1
Mariah Woolery and Jackie Lovelace. Deahna King and Maddie Loverich. WP–Woolery. LP—King. 2B–Ferrari Girourard (E-W), Taylor Jones (E-W), Heidi Davis (E-W), Natalie Allen (B) 2, Loverich (B), King (B). 3B—Kendra Cooper (E-W). Records–Edmonds-Woodway 17-8 overall. Bainbridge 16-9.
Ed-Woodway 201 000 0 — 3 11 2
Kamiakin 000 000 0 — 13 15 2
Kyra Collingridge, Mariah Woolery (4) and Jackie Lovelace. Emiley Moore and Tawny Becker. WP–Moore. LP–Collingridge. 2B–Lauren George (K). 3B–Carlie Wyant (K). HR–Becker (K). Records–Edmonds-Woodway 17-9 overall. Kamiakin 18-6.
L. Washington 004 100 0 — 5 10 0
Ed-Woodway 000 100 0 — 1 2 4
Tori Bivens and Kara Phillips. Mariah Woolery and Jackie Lovelace. WP–Bivens. LP–Woolery. HR–Taylor Jones (E-W). Records–Lake Washington 25-2 overall. Edmonds-Woodway 17-10.
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