Woodland’s Maddi Bunger yells to support her team at the District Championship in Longview May 18.
Ridgefield’s Hailee Gruber prepares to swing with Woodland’s catcher Justice Holcomb behind her at the District Championship in Longview May 18.
Ridgefield’s Rhylee Haensel supports her team from the dugout at the District Championship in Longview May 18.
The Woodland Beavers rush the field after beating Ridgefield 3-1 in the District Championship in Longview May 18.
Woodland’s Justice Holcomb steps up to the plate with Ridgefield’s catcher Emma Jenkins behind her at the District Championship in Longview May 18.
Woodland’s Olivia Grey pitches during the District Championship in Longview May 18.
Woodland defeated Ridgefield 3-1 in the 2A District Championship Softball game at 7th Avenue Park in Longview Saturday, May 18.
The defending state champion Beavers remain undefeated, making Saturday their 28th win in a row since losing to W.F. West in the district semifinals last season.
Despite the loss, the Ridgefield girls will also continue on to state.
Ridgefield hit hard in the first inning with Karli Oliver, a senior, putting up the first run of the game within the first few minutes after a hit from Emma Jenkins. The Spudders also came out strong on defense, keeping the Beavers scoreless for five innings.
But the Beavers came swinging back in the bottom of the sixth inning with 3 total runs. After a base hit by Chloe Eddy, Kelly Sweyer hit a home run bringing both across home plate. Shortly after the hit by Eddy, Payten Foster hit the second home run of the inning, bringing the Beavers up 3-1. That score would hold, as Woodland kept Ridgefield scoreless in the seventh.
“That’s the grit we have; we’re able to control the controllables,” assistant coach Josh Bunger said when asked about the Beavers’ sixth-inning scores. “We know that even if we are down, we are going to come back and we know that somebody is going to step up and it’s always somebody different.”
Senior pitcher Olivia Grey echoed Bunger’s thoughts about her team. “This is one of those really big games, and I think we all came out when we needed to,” she said.
Ridgefield coach Rob Oliver later told The Reflector that despite a couple of mistakes, the Spudders were “gutty and played well.”
Leading into state, Oliver said they need to get “a little more ball play and cut down on strikeouts.”
Ridgefield sophomore Natalie Smith loved the energy the Spudders brought throughout the whole game and hopes to see the same at state.
“(We) got to keep up the energy like we did today and pushing through the whole thing and not give up,” she said.
Ridgefield will play Lakewood at 10 a.m. in the first round of state May 24 in Selah. Woodland will play Eatonville at noon the same day.
Prairie
The Prairie Falcons won 9-3 over Spanaway Lake in the district consolation bracket on May 18 in Lacey to punch their ticket to state. The girls will play Garfield May 24 in Lacey in the first round.
Battle Ground
The Battle Ground Tigers lost 17-5 to Skyview in the district championship May 19. They will play Chiawana in the first round of state at noon in Spokane May 24.
