by Eric Francis
TACOMA — The Stanwood and Sedro-Woolley softball teams finished their respective state tournaments on Saturday much like they opened them Friday.
For the Cubs, it was another costly blend of bunched hits and errors that ended their season with a 4-2 loss to Union.
For Stanwood, it was another extra-inning affair, though this one the Spartans’ came out on the wrong end in a 2-1 nine-inning loss to Walla Walla.
Stanwood, making its first state fastpitch appearance, finished the season 23-5.
“I think we tried out hardest,” said Sam Bingham, who scored Stanwood’s only run in the game in the fourth. “It sucks that we didn’t get as high a place as we wanted, but we did well.”
The Spartans’ loss came in the first inning of the international tie-breaker.
Stanwood’s runner on second was caught trying to swipe third, and the Spartans went scoreless.
Walla Walla’s Alicia Baker was able to take third, then scored one out later when the Blue Devils faked a squeeze play and Kelsie DeBroek slapped the ball just over the charging infield to allow Baker to score easily.
In the Cubs’ opening-round loss, Holy Names got all of its hits in a two-run rally that proved the difference in a 3-1 game.
This time Union, which managed only one hit over the first 51⁄3 innings against Bailey Brewer, pounded out three straight hits. Along with two Cub errors, that turned a 2-0 Sedro-Woolley lead into a two-run defeat.
The other thing both teams had in common was losses to high-ranking opponents. Walla Walla went on to finish third and the team that beat Stanwood on Friday, Kelso, went on to claim the state championship.
Sedro-Woolley’s losses came to the eventual second-place team (Holy Names) and third-place team (Union).
“This team had an amazing year,” Cubs’ coach Laura Schmidt said. “The girls were really proud of what they accomplished. The first week of the season they had set in their sights on being where we were today.”
