Warden softball wins district title
Alan Dale/Columbia Basin Herald<br> Warden is heading to the Class 1A state softball tournament behind the guidance of coach Wes Richins (left) and the leadership of their only senior, Randi Wright (8).
PASCO — Despite large turnover from last year’s roster, the Warden Lady Cougars replenished their resources this season and ended up better than ever.
Warden won its third South Central Athletic Conference (SCAC) District Tournament title in six years with a 7-5 win over River View in the final to clinch the league’s top seed at next week’s Class 1A State Tournament in Pasco.
Warden opens play Friday against an opponent yet to be determined. State brackets were not released as of press time,
“When asked how this one stacks up against the others I feel this one is special because not many people would have believed that this young team could accomplish such lofty goals,” Warden coach Wes Richins said. “We lost five All-league players from last years team and Randi Wright was the only all-league player returning and the only senior.”
Well youth was definitely served as they started the tournament with a 20-0 win over Naches Valley on Thursday and before beating River View, gutted out a 3-2, 11-inning win over Cle Elum.
The Lady Cougars (17-6) still found a way to win despite having 20 batters fall via strikeout to Cle Elum’s stellar pitcher Haley Bator.
Wright kept her team in the game by allowing on six hits while striking out six.
“Randi made a living out of using a mix of off-speed and breaking balls,” Richins said. “She didn’t strike out a lot of batters but really only had a couple of really hard hits off her.”
After giving up a lead off home run to Bator, Warden took a 2-1 lead in the top half of the fourth before the top seed out of the SCAC West evened the score in the bottom of the fifth inning.
Warden’s Bianca Hernandez had a two RBI double in the fourth to account for the only runs the Lady Cougars scored before the fateful 11th innings.
In the top of the 11th, Warden’s Liz Pruneda scored on a sacrifice bunt by Cassondra Platas led to an error by the Cle Elum (20-4) first baseman.
Wright kept Cle Elum in check and got the final three outs to secure the win.
It was a great game to be a part of,” Richins said. “Gut wrenching, but fun.”
In the District Finals, Warden gained some revenge against a River View (18-5) team that nipped the Lady Cougars for the East Division league title.
“We played like they had something to prove,” Richins said.
River View led 5-2 after four innings but then Warden got going and scored five unanswered runs, bringing three across homeplate in the sixth inning, while sandwiching that frame with one-run outbursts in the fifth and seventh innings.
“Randi only struck out one but kept their batters off balance and allowed our defense to make the plays and our offense to score some runs,” Richins said.
Wright helped herself at the plate going 2-for-4 with two doubles and four RBI.
Tawney Gonsalez went 2-for-4 with a double, Narcy Guerra finished 2-for-4, Liz Pruneda ended her day at 2-for-2 and Crystal Chavez had a double.