The Times - Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley

YAKIMA - There are two ways to look at the outcome of the state soft­ball tournament for the WP Tigers: they went further than last year and ended up in the top 12, but they also traveled all the way to Ya­kima to get knocked out of contention by league rival DeSales.

Despite high hopes that they could repeat their nar­row upset of the Irish dur­ing the district playoffs, the Tigers went down against the Walla Walla team 5-1 on Sunday before the Irish themselves were rolled from the tourney by Adna 9-4.

Though head coach An­gie Potts said her girls were disappointed they faced a league team so far from home and did not get past it again, she declined to focus on that as the outcome of the 2013 season.

"I wanted them to go further, perhaps get at least two wins at state (for the seniors), so it was disap­pointing in that way," she said. "But I thought it was one of the best seasons ever in terms of the atmosphere and the way the girls got along."

And with their win against Kittitas on Saturday afternoon, the Tigers went further than they did last year when they went home winless on the first day.

The competition was de­layed after rains on Friday, pushing WP's first game against Morton White Pass to Saturday. The western Washington team that end­ed up placing fourth in the 2B tournament Sunday beat WP 7-2. The Timberwolves scored 5 unanswered runs until the Tigers' bats finally came alive in the fourth with Heidi Miller and Katie Hofer both hitting singles before scoring on a single from Jessica Foxe.

The Tigers looked set to get another series of runs in the fifth, but Morton White Pass left all three base run­ners stranded.

"We had an opportunity in the fifth, but couldn't get them across the plate," she said.

The loss got them down at first, but they regrouped after lunch and after Potts reminded them of the im­portance of their game against Kittitas to return on Sunday.

Kittitas scored two runs in the first inning, but WP answered quickly with one in the second and two in the third to take the lead. The Tiger clocked another run in the 4th to make it 4-2.

The Coyotes underes­timated catcher Chelsea Brannock's quickness be­hind the plate from the out­set and were stunned to see her picking off runners on first, second and third base. The Kittitas players hustled to tie the game in the top of the 6th 4-4. With two outs in the bottom of the 6th, Logan Harshman pounded out a triple that scored two more and put her team over the top 6-4.

With that win under their belt, WP went into their next game against DeSales with high hopes of a district win repeat but Irish pitcher Ashlyn Lyons kept her laser-guided throw on the very edge of outside and the WP batters failed to adjust, Potts said.

Above: Chapman tags a Kittitas runner as she dives back to first base after a pickoff attempt.

The Tigers got an early lead in the game after Sa­mantha Moss made it all the way on third with a single, a stolen base and an errant pitch before Hofer brought her in with a line drive. The score held thanks to WP pitcher Jennifer Nichols, who defended it until the top of the fourth when she allowed four runs to put the Irish ahead 3-1.

This time, it was Lyons' turn to frustrate the Tigers, 13 of whom were struck out during the game. WP could not get any more points on the board and DeSales finished up with game with two more runs in the sev­enth to win it 5-1.

Foxe, Moss and Bran­nock all won sportsmanship awards at state, helping their team place in the top 12 this year.

Seven seniors - Moss, Nichols, Hofer, Foxe, Sa­mantha Henze, Rhiannon Chapman and Cynthia Zuniga - ended their soft­ball careers on Sunday, a big turnover for the Tigers. But Potts said a strong group of sophomores and rising freshmen are waiting in the wings to bode well for next year.

"In practice, I see a lot of good things," she said. "The talent is there."