Power-hungry Selah beats Ephrata softball, 12-2

SELAH — The Ephrata Lady Tigers softball squad ran into a hot-hitting group of Selah Vikings on Thursday night.

The Vikings blasted four home runs — a grand slam, a pair of two-run homers and a solo shot — leading them to a 12-2 triumph in five innings over the visiting Tigers in a first-round Central Washington Athletic Conference playoff game.

The loss puts Ephrata in a loser-out situation. They'll play again Saturday at noon, taking on the Wapato Wolves at Selah.

"The biggest thing is we gave up four home runs. The long ball killed us," Ephrata head coach Heather Wood said. "Otherwise we played a very good game."

The Lady Tigers started well, putting up a pair of first-inning runs against Selah pitcher Monica Stout. Holly Hubbard singled, moved to second base on a Chelsey Hubbard sacrifice bunt, stole third and scored on a Viking error. Kaylyn Bossert followed with a single and scored on Kyndra Purcell's single.

Selah, however, answered immediately with two runs in their half of the first. While the Vikings committed four defensive errors, the pitching of Stout was more than enough to compensate. Ephrata managed four hits and struck out seven times.

Holly Hubbard started the game for Ephrata on the mound, then left in favor of Jordan Peters in the third. Hubbard returned in the fourth to pitch the final two innings. Selah had 12 hits total and Ephrata committed three errors.

Wood said there wasn't much Hubbard and Peters could've done differently against the Vikings on this night.

"They just pretty much hit anything we threw at them," she said. "They're a good hitting team."

In Saturday's contest with Wapato, Ephrata will have some familiarity, having split a recent doubleheader with the Wolves. If the Tigers win that game, they'll need to win twice more on Saturday to qualify for state as the CWAC's No. 3 seed.

"As long as we come out and hit and play our game, we'll be fine," Wood added.

Selah 12, Ephrata 2

Ephrata 200 00 — 2 4 3

Selah 214 41 —12 12 4

Holly Hubbard, Jordan Peters (3), Holly Hubbard (4) and Chelsey Hubbard; Monica Stout and Rachel Fickes. Ephrata hits: Holly Hubbard, Holly Nelson, Kaylyn Bossert, Kyndra Purcell.