Cougars defeat Broncos in 2B softball first round

YAKIMA — The first round of the 2B State Softball Tournament saw a matchup of teams from the Columbia Basin, with the No. 6 seed Warden Cougars mounting a comeback to defeat the No. 11 seed Lind-Ritzville/Sprague Broncos 6-4 on Friday.

LRS led the game 2-0 through the fourth inning.

“We always feel confident in what we do out there,” Warden head coach Randy Wright said. “We felt like we should win — had a slow start, and the girls have done this before during the year. When they get behind, they still battle and end up coming back and winning.”

Warden first chipped into the lead with an RBI single by senior Brianalee Martinez in the bottom of the fourth inning, then added the game-tying run with an RBI single by senior Emma Cox during the next at-bat.

“My first at-bat I saw that she was throwing inside, and struggled for the first two pitches — I got two strikes and was down in the count,” Cox said. “I saw that second pitch and decided to scoot back a little bit and come off the plate so I could see it a little better, and I knew that we were set from then on.”

“They got some base hits off of us, they put the ball in play,” LRS head coach Todd O’Brien said. “They’re a good, solid team – they hit the ball hard and where we weren’t.”

After tying the game in the bottom of the fifth, the Cougars took their first lead of the day on an RBI single from freshman Lindsey Grubb in the bottom of the sixth, scoring three more runs in the inning with RBI from sophomore Miranda Martinez and Cox.

“That’s always been the way it is with this group, and I think any team; someone sees they get a hit, and they go, ‘Yeah, I can do that,’” Wright said. “It gets a little confidence going, and you wait for that.”

LRS cut the lead to two in the top of the seventh inning, as sophomores Aeowyn Armstrong and Hannah Towne both drove in runs, but Cox got the final out of the game with a strikeout to seal the win.

Friday’s win was Warden’s first win at the state tournament since 2019 — which came in the 1A state tournament, where the Cougars placed third after an opening-round loss to Elma — and its first opening-round win since 2016, which was in the 2B tournament.

“It felt good to get that win – kind of break the curse,” Wright said. 

Cox struck out 14 batters in Friday’s win over the Broncos. After a week where she said she "struggled" and her "confidence was down a little bit," Cox rebounded with a big performance in the opening round of the 2B State Softball Tournament. 

The senior mentioned a conversation with her cousin, Othello assistant coach Aaliyah Garza, to help get her mind right heading into state.

“She told me to trust my preparation,” Cox said. “I always like to go into the game with the mindset that I’m the best one out there, and that nobody’s better than me — that I’m a beast on the mound, and they have to play to my strengths. My team is behind me, and we’re the best out here. I like to go into every game thinking that, and I think that’s what really got me through today.”

The Broncos struck first in the game, taking a 1-0 lead in the top of the first inning with an RBI from Towne that sent home Armstrong. LRS got its second run in the bottom of the third inning on another RBI single from Towne.

“By seed, we were automatically the visitor, which helps us, typically, because it gets the nerves out at the plate rather than defensively,” O’Brien said. “It was just a bonus that we put together some hits and got a score.”

With the loss to Warden, the Broncos were eliminated from the state tournament; LRS finished the season with a 15-10 record.

O’Brien said he hopes next year’s returners take away the experience and excitement of playing in the state tournament. 

“It’s a task to get to the state tournament — you always want to come here and play well, and that’s what we did,” O’Brien said. “The enthusiasm within the community — the younger girls at the junior high level, seeing us here playing at this level encourages them.”

Warden advanced to play No. 3 Forks in the state quarterfinals later on Friday, defeating the Spartans 17-15 in a back-and-forth contest. Miranda Martinez led the Cougars with three hits — one of which was a two-run home run in the top of the sixth – while Grubb had a team-high four RBI. 

In the state semifinals Saturday, the Cougars jumped out to an early 7-1 lead over No. 10 Toledo, eventually moving to the 2B state championship game with a 17-6 win over the Riverhawks. Junior Genesis Ozuna led the Cougars with three hits, while she and senior Sierra Campos both had a team-high four RBI. Campos hit a three-run home run in the top of the second inning.

Warden met No. 1 seed Adna in the state championship game Saturday, but scores were not available in time for press deadline. Wednesday’s edition of the Columbia Basin Herald will have a story on the game.

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

Box scores

LRS vs Warden
LRS: 1-0-1-0-0-0-2 4
WRD: 0-0-0-0-2-4-X 6

Warden vs Forks
WRD: 4-0-2-1-3-5-2 17
FRK: 2-0-0-0-9-2-2 15

Warden vs Toledo
WRD: 4-3-0-1-1-8 17
TOL: 0-1-1-0-3-1 6

    Broncos senior Megan Melcher, left, runs toward the infield to catch the ball hit by a Warden player for an out.
  

    Warden pitcher Emma Cox (27) pitches against the Lind-Ritzville/Sprague Broncos on Friday in the opening round of the 2B State Softball Tournament. Cox had 14 strikeouts in the win.
  

    Warden senior Valerie Rodriguez (10) makes contact with a pitch against Lind-Ritzville/Sprague on Friday.