LACEY — The Port Angeles softball team grabbed a third-place trophy at the Bi-district tournament, belting six home runs and coming from way behind to beat Sequim 15-10 in the third-/fourth-place game.
Both the Roughriders and the Wolves lost their Bi-district semifinal games early Saturday, putting them into the third-place game. Port Angeles was beaten by league rival Olympic 6-4 and Sequim was beaten by Fife 6-3. Fife won the Bi-district championship by beating Olympic 6-3.
Sequim finished fourth in the tournament. Both Port Angeles and Sequim qualified for berths in the state 2A tournament with wins Friday in the opening round of bi-district. All further games were strictly for seeding.
In the third-place game, Sequim got ahead 9-3 after 2½ innings as the Wolves had 10 hits against Cheyenne Zimmer and Heidi Leitz. Teagan Clark came in to pitch relief and shut the door on the Wolves, going four innings and allowing four hits and one run while striking out two and walking none.
Meanwhile, the Port Angeles bats heated up with six home runs and 12 runs over the final four innings, highlighted by Leitz’ grand slam in the bottom of the sixth inning. Leitz ended up 2-for-4 with a double and six RBIs.
Zoe Smithson was 2-for-3 with a double, a home run, two RBIs and three runs scored, while Lily Halberg was 3-for-4 with a double, home run, two runs scored and three RBIs.
Taylor Worthington was 3-for-4 with a home run and three runs scored and Natalie Robinson was 2-for-4 with a home run and two runs scored. Abby Kimball also hit a home run, while Clark scored two runs.
Port Angeles has now hit 46 home runs this season. The Riders are 3-0 against Sequim this season with a possibility they could play a fourth time at state.
The Riders (19-3) and the Wolves (13-8) both begin play at the state 2A tournament in Selah on Friday.
Friday’s wins
Sequim came to the district softball tournament fired up and smashed Class 2A KingCo Conference champ Sammamish 21-1 Friday at the RAC to seal a berth to the state tournament.
The game was halted after just three innings due to the 20-point run differential.
Sequim did much of the work right off the bat, taking advantage of five walks to plate eight first-inning runs.
Taylee Rome opened the scoring with a two-run triple, Mia Pozernick’s two-run double down the third-base line made it 5-0 and leadoff hitter Christy Grubb’s second turn at-bat resulted in a two-RBI double and an 8-0 lead.
Ten Wolves’ batters reached base before Sammamish recorded an out.
Rome and Pozernick each added home runs and Grubb reached base on an error and scored as the rout continued in the second and third innings.
Angel Wagner pitched well for Sequim, scattering three hits.
Meanwhile, the top-seeded Roughriders rolled out to an 8-0 lead, clinching a state tournament berth with a dominant win over White River.
Lily Halberg belted a two-run home run in the first inning and Clark added an RBI single to help herself out in the circle. Clark earned the win, striking out 10 White River batters in a complete-game performance.
Peyton Rudd added a two-run double and Robinson pounded another double off the fence to bring home two more Riders for a 6-0 advantage.
Port Angeles also played well in the field with Lily Halberg making plays in right field and sister Emi robbing a potential three-run home run late.
Forks at 2B District 1/4
CENTRALIA — The Forks softball team won three out of four games at the 2B District 1/4 tournament to finish third and qualify for the state 2B tournament.
The Spartans beat Rainier 10-0 on Friday, then lost their only game of the tournament later in the day 12-4 to Adna, the eventual tournament champion and the No. 4-ranked team in the state.
Forks bounced back Saturday with an 11-1 win over Toledo, then beat Rainier a second time 16-4 to grab the third-place trophy.
Forks (17-7) begins play at the state 2B tournament Friday in Yakima.
Forks baseball
CASTLE ROCK — Forks’ run in the state tournament ended after one game Saturday when the Spartans ran into Toutle Lake’s Jackson Cox, a University of Oregon-commit, who through a no-hitter against the Spartans in a 4-0 win.
Cox reached 97 mph on the radar guns of several MLB scouts in attendance. He struck out 15 Spartans and had a perfect game until the seventh inning, when Forks got a baserunner on due to an error by Cox.
Toutle Lake (22-2) is the No. 2-ranked 2B team in the state in Ratings Percentage Index.
Forks’ Logan Olson did his best to keep the Spartans in the game, pitching five shutout innings as the two teams entered the sixth tied 0-0. Toutle Lake finally broke through for four runs in the sixth and that was all they needed.
Olson ended up pitching 5⅔ innings, allowing four earned runs on just three hits. He struck out nine and walked five. Dalton Kilmer pitched the final 1⅓, allowing one hit and one walk while striking out one.
Forks finished its season with a 17-2 record.
The Forks girls softball team celebrates finishing third at the 2B District 1/4 tournament and qualifying for the state 1B tournament.
Forks’ Chloe Gaydeski-St. John pitches while a Rainier runner leads off first base in Centralia on Friday. At third is Elisabeth Soto and playing first base is Kaidence Rigby. Forks defeated Rainier 10-0 in five innings and eventually went on to qualify for the state 1B softball tournament. (Lonnie Archibald/for Peninsula Daily News)
