SELAH – Drawing the top ranked team in the first round of the state tournament is never easy, but the Lynden Lion fastpitch team did not shrink from the challenge.
In the top of the first inning, with two outs, Lynden pitcher Breanna Swendt gave up a two out walk, which quickly turned into a two run deficit, as Ellensburg’s clean up hitter launched a ball well over the left-center field fence.
Down 2-0 in the 5th inning, Lynden loaded the bases after two walks and a single by Lauren Groen, Megan Paoli, and Haley Saur respectively. Blakely Doerge then drove in the Lions’ first run of the game, followed by Alexis Fredin’s sacrifice fly to tie it up. Swendt then walked to load the bases, when Riley Anderson drew a free pass to take a 3-2 lead.
Ellensburg would then add a run in the 5th, and two more in the 6th to beat the Lions in the opener, 5-3.
Facing elimination, the Lions changed fields and changed mentalities very quickly. The game started very similar to the first. Against Olympic, the Lions gave up two quick base hits, then chose to intentionally walk another, before the Trojan’s Kaira Cabto opened up the game with a grand slam.
Down 4-0, coach Steve Petersen said his girls “simply wanted to play for each other”, which became obvious very quickly. The Lions went on to bat through their lineup, gaining seven hits with eight runs in the inning.
In the end, the Lions won 14-6, with the help of Doerge’s 3-for-5 round and a blast well over the right field wall. Megan Paoli went 3-for-4 with 3 RBI’s. Olivia Wittenburg went 3 for 4 with 3 RBI’s and Taylor Simonsen added on three hits and two RBI’s.
In the final game of the night, the Lions took on Selah. After a first inning where Fredin drove in Doerge with a one out double, it looked, again, like the Lions might take down one of the state’s top ranked teams. Yet, after Selah homered in the 3rd inning to tie it up at 1-1, the 5th inning came. Selah’s well known offense awoke to the tune of one intentional walk, four singles, two doubles, and two home runs. A 10-run Selah inning ended the game quickly, as they defeated the Lions 11-1 in five innings.
Lynden ends their season with a record of 18-9.
-BLAKE WITMAN
WHATCOMPREPS.COM
