Royal fastpitch defeats Naches Valley 17-0

ROYAL CITY — The Royal High School Lady Knights led an offensive barrage on Thursday night, defeating Naches Valley 17-0 in the first round of the fastpitch 1A District 5 tournament.

“We drove the ball pretty well,” Royal head coach Lisa Lawrence said. “Our pitcher — Madison Ortega-Sanchez — she really wrapped up well for us.”

Ortega-Sanchez brought the heat on Thursday, striking out 7 of the 9 batters she faced. The junior pitcher also hit two doubles in the win.

Sophomores Raegen Wardenaar and Randi Allred both recorded triples in the win, with Wardenaar’s coming at a bases-loaded at-bat with two outs.

Royal, now 14-4, will move on to face the top-seeded Zillah on Saturday in the second round of the District 5 tournament. With a berth to state on the line, Lawrence looks forward to the matchup against the Leopards.

“We know what to expect,” Lawrence said. “We’re going to focus on tightening up our defense and keep driving the ball.”

The Lady Knights have defeated Zillah twice this season by scores of 14-4 and 17-11, both from a May 9 doubleheader. Even with prior success earlier this season, Lawrence knows her team can’t afford to look past the 13-5 Leopards.

“They can be scrappy and unexpected,” Lawrence said. “We know we can’t overlook them.”

Lawrence looks to keep the team’s focus on the task at hand and translating that into wins.

“We’ve got a lot of energy, and we’re looking to keep up our momentum offensively,” Lawrence said on how the team could make a deep playoff run.

On Saturday, the Lady Knights defeated Zillah 14-2 and fell to College Place 4-2 in the District 5 finals. Despite the loss, the Royal fastpitch team is heading to the state tournament this Friday.

Ian Bivona may be reached at ibivona@columbiabasinherald.com.