The Enumclaw High fastpitch crew nearly stumbled coming out of the gate, but came on strong down the backstretch for a photo-finish, fifth-place with Mount Rainier during the Class 3A state championships.
Enumclaw High was making its second straight appearance at the state tournament, staged again at the South End Recreation Area fields in Tacoma.
This year’s lone representative from the South Puget Sound League 3A, the Hornets appeared to have a few butterflies against their initial opponent, Bishop Blanchet, and fell behind 5-1 in the Friday morning contest.
Then, it was almost as if the senior core of the maroon and gold suddenly recalled what it was like to go two and out at the tourney, as they did last season as juniors.
Despite throwing with a labrum tear in ther pitching shoulder, senior mound ace Jill Stewart took over the pitching duties from rattled sophomore slinger Austin Rogers – watched her defense commit four errors in the early going – and allowed just one run the rest of the way.
Enumclaw still had the daunting task of making up some serious ground and that’s where the base stealing of senior center fielder Taylor Franich came into play as she accounted for four stolen bases against Bishop Blanchet. The Braves also had to deal with the hitting of senior catcher Ashley Dell’Osa and senior shortstop Kassi Young, who had a great two days at the plate, as EHS mounted a comeback. The Hornets scored two runs in the third and fifth stanzas and one in the sixth to knot the score at six apiece. After neither squad produced a run in the seventh frame, the contest went into extra innings.
Enumclaw put up a pair of runs in the top of the eighth and when Blanchet didn’t respond in kind, the Hornets tucked the triumph under their belts and moved on to try and knock the Port Angeles Roughriders out of their saddles.
The green-jerseyed Port Angeles group was riding high as they had just picked off Shadle Park of Spokane 6-2. But a revitalized Enumclaw bunch quickly brought the Roughrider girls back down to earth, blanking them 5-0, despite committing four more errors.
The Hornets put on a batting clinic, outhitting the ‘Riders 10-2 and Stewart started in this game on the bump, spinning a jewel as she fanned six hitters.
“We decided to go with Stew’s hot hand and let Austin play second base until she became reacquainted with the pressure cooker of state,” Hornet skipper Michael Eckhart said.
Stewart received excellent offensive support as nearly everyone on the team contributed, Dell’Osa going 3-for-4 at the dish, Taylor Dieni crushing a double, Franich flashing around the bags for a two-run triple and Nea Muller and Kayla Kranz each chipping in an RBI.
After Enumclaw got through the first day of the tournament unscatched it was slated to rendezvous with Bainbridge, the eventual 3A state champion, at 9 a.m. Saturday. In a tight contest, EHS fell 2-0.
Senior Spartan windmiller Lindsay Willmann – the best pitcher his team had faced all year, Eckhart said – tossed a no-hit, no-walk domination gem, as her velocity and marksmanship seemed to improve as the game progressed.
“Willmann jammed us hard inside with those rockets she was throwing and she changed up her pitch selection really well, making it hard to detect any kind of pattern to key on,” Eckhart said. “My kids didn’t see anyone like her in the SPSL 3A, that’s for sure.”
Bainbridge’s flame-throwing ace, who will be going to the University of Pacific (Oregon) on a full-ride scholarship next year, was hurling 65 mph fireballs by the sixth inning, defying Enumclaw’s normally proficient swatters to put a bat on her high-speed offerings.
Bainbridge left 11 baserunners on board as Rogers got the starting nod and redeemed herself, pitching with far more poise, even though Enumclaw’s porous defense tainted her gutsy four and two-thirds outing on the hill, with a another four errors.
It almost didn’t matter though, as the impressive Willmann ended up whiffing nine Enumclaw girls in the no-no effort.
While Bainbridge moved on to claim the coveted 3A state championship hardware by defeating Metro League rival Holy Names 6-2, Enumclaw locked horns with Prairie High’s Falcons. In a game marred by several debated calls by the umpires, the Hornets exited the tournament with a 2-1 setback.
Asked if he thought Prairie was the better contingent, Eckhart offered a quick “no.”
“I couldn’t believe the call at first when our girl had clearly hustled down the line to beat the throw, then the Prairie girl at first dropped the ball and the infield umpire called us out. That could have been the tying run,” he fumed.
If nothing else, Enumclaw collected seven hits against Prairie, including a pinch-hit, RBI double by sophomore Kat Ferguson and was errorless for the first time in the tournament.
“I was proud of the way our gals kept it together and hung in there, no matter what happened,” Eckhart said. “Even after we fell behind early to Blanchet in that first game, they were all like calm, cool and collected saying, ‘don’t worry, we’ll come back, coach,’ and they did. I think that is a product of strong senior leadership and having a bench that you can depend on.
“I think we will probably be back here next year, despite the great senior base we will be losing to graduation,” Eckhart said. “Many of the girls on our bench would have been playing were it not for the fact that they were backing up the more experienced senior players.”
Reach John Leggett at jleggett@courierherald.com or 360-802-8207.
