Warden softball takes two of three games

HANFORD - The Cougars took two-out-of-three district softball games over the weekend to advance to the 1A State Tournament at Columbia Field in Richland Friday as a No. 1 seed.

Warden beat Naches 20-1 at home Thursday, May 16, turned back Burbank 19-3 in a semifinal match up at Hanford Saturday, and then lost the championship game to Connell 10-0.

Warden 20

Naches 1

Iris Rodriguez belted three home runs and Bianca Hernandez and Brenda Deleon and one each to lead Warden to a 19-run rout over the Rangers. The Cougars out hit Naches 17-2. Aaliyah Rodriguez went the distance in the circle, fanned eight Naches batters, and picked up the win.

"Our girls are swinging the bat pretty well right now," coach Wes Richins said. "I reminded the seniors it was their last game on our field, and I couldn't have asked for a better way to walk off this field.  It was an incredible effort by all our girls, but especially our seniors.  Freshman Aaliyah Enriquez did a great job keeping their bats down, only giving up one unearned run in the third."

Warden 19

Burbank 3

The Cougar bats continued to sizzle in a semifinal game against the Coyotes Saturday morning as Warden pounded out 17 hits in the contest. The game was tied 1-1 until the Cougars took the lead for good with three runs in the top of the fourth inning.

Warden added a run in the top of the sixth then exploded for 14 in the seventh to win going away as Burbank only managed to put two runs on the board in the bottom of the frame.

Enriquez (13-1) was the winning pitcher of record as she mowed down nine Coyotes and limited them to just four hits on the game.

"Burbank pitching kept us off balance and from having a big inning until the 7th," Richins said. "We sent 18 batters to the plate and belted out 12 hits."

Connell 10

Warden 0

The Cougars ran into a buzz saw in the championship game against the Eagles Saturday afternoon as their bat fell silent in the shutout loss. Connell jumped out to an early 4-0 lead after one inning of play and never looked back as the Eagles cruised to the lopsided win.

Enriquez, who pitched all three games at the district tournament was tagged with the loss. 

"Warden is undefeated this season, with the exception of losing to Connell, two-time defending state champions, and D1 prospect Ashley Thompson who broke the state strikeout record last week," Richins said. "We gave them a battle and are making progress on them. Who knows, maybe we will see them in the state championship in Richland."

The Cougars open state tournament play against Lakeside at noon Friday in Richland.

2013 SCAC-East All League Softball selections

Six Warden players were named to the SCAC East All-League Team. Making the First-Team were Iris Rodriguez, Bianca Hernandez, and Aaliyah Enriquez. Second-Team selections are Narcy Guerra, Brenda Deleon and Haley Yamane.