The Times - Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley

WALLA WALLA - After their narrow 10-9 loss against district title winner WP Friday, the Lady Bulldogs could have hung their heads. They did come out a bit sluggish in the next game against Asotin and by the sixth inning, they were down 5-2.

But they rallied when it was their turn in the sixth. When the game was tied in the bottom of the seventh and it was make or break, the Dayton girls' bats came through as well as their spirit. With some additional help from Asotin errors, Dayton won the battle for third place 6-5.

"The girls committed to following through with this comeback and with hits from freshmen up to seniors they were able to do that," assistant coach Des Jones said.

Dayton came out on fire during its first seeding game against the WP Tigers, whom they pounded to an 8-0 lead by the third, with Sam Harting scoring a tworun homer in the first inning and Jessica Tate following up with a grand slam homer in the second inning.

Then there was Sam Moss' spectacular catch on the edge of the fence that denied Dayton its third homer and ignited the nearly downand out Tigers. WP "found their bats in the third inning," scoring 6 runs on 4 hits and 1 Dayton error, Jones said.

The Lady Dogs came back in the seventh for a single run and had the tying run on base. But it was not to be. WP won it 10-9.

"It was obviously a disappointing end after being up by 8," Jones said. "Playing consistent ball for seven innings is something the girls are working on."

The lead-off momentum was reversed in the Dogs' game against the Panthers. Though Dayton scored first in the bottom of the second when a Kellie Moore brought home McKayla Bickelhaupt on a double, Asotin answered with three runs in the top of the third.

Jones said her girls didn't start to focus until the bottom of the sixth, when they were down 5-2 and rallied with two runs. After holding the Panthers scoreless in the top of the seventh, the Dogs growled some more.

Sarah Phillips had a leadoff double to left field. Malia Frame stepped up and got a double to right field to score Phillips. The next two batters got out without advancing Frame. Bickelhaupt got on base with a walk.

With two on and two out and the score tied at 5 a piece in the bottom of the seventh, Caitlyn got a single to the left side of the infield. Asotin overthrew to first base after Robins hit first and pinch runner Torry Johnson (for Frame) scored on the overthrow from third base and clench third place for the Dogs.

As let down as the Dayton girls were after their loss against WP, "they were happy with their comeback against Asotin," Jones said.

To top off the weekend, the Lady Dogs played the DHS alumni on Saturday, beating them 13-3 in part on 5 alumni errors.

"It was a fun day for all involved," said Jones, whose team fed all the players, players, fans and officials at a BBQ that followed. "I think the alumni really enjoyed coming back and playing in a friendly competition.

The Lady Dogs go to the regionals to play against the winner of the District 7 playoffs on Saturday at Merkel Field in Spokane. Their first game is at 11 am.