Lady Warriors win first regional title
Almira/Coulee-Hartline softball and pitcher Sarah Gloyn have advanced to the Class 1B state quarterfinals which begin Friday in Yakima. The Lardy Warriors took third last season and aim for a bigger trophy this weekend.
MEDICAL LAKE - Last year the Almira/Coulee-Hartline Lady Warriors softball team battled to regional play, went winless, but still qualified for the final weekend of Class 1B state tournament play.
This year, ACH may have a bit more momentum heading into the season's final weekend.
On Saturday, led by two strong pitching performances, ACH (22-1) won 12-3 against Garfield-Palouse and followed that up with a clutch, 5-3 win over Colton to claim the regional title and head into this weekend's Class 1B quarterfinals with a strong wave of good play pushing them along.
The Lady Warriors play Sunnyside Christian at 1 p.m. on Friday at the Gateway Sports Complex in Yakima.
"The girls set the goal this year to do better in regionals then they did last year, which was to win at least one game," ACH head coach Nicole Evans said. "They did exactly that today, winning two and bringing home the regional championship for the first time."
In the win over G-P, ACH came out sluggish, trying to get their bats going.
"We started off a little slow trying to find out bats but we still had our defense." Evans said.
The game was tied at 3-3 after four innings before ACH brought three runs across the plate in the bottom of the fifth frame.
Then they put the game away with six runs in the next inning.
Jordan Jones got things started with a triple and that bash was followed by hits from Sarah Gloyn, Karlee Martin, Allison Fox, Madeline Isaak and a double by Julianna Hughes.
Gloyn earned the win from the mound while Isaak pitched three inning in relief.
In the title game, ACH and Colton slugged it out in a tough defensive, pitching duel.
Colon scored three times in the bottom of the third inning to lead 3-2.
ACH rallied with two scores of their own in the fifth inning to reclaim the lead.
Isaak's RBI double in the bottom of the seventh gave ACH a key two-run cushion heading into Colton's last at-bat.
Isaak finished 4-for-4 with two RBI.
Gloyn added a 2-for-3 day with an RBI.
"You could tell that the girls really wanted this one," Evans said. "They were able to make the plays that they needed to get out of the innings."
Isaak earned the win.