TURLOCK, Calif. (Mar. 31) - The Central Washington University softball team erased an early 3-0 deficit to Sonoma State in their final game of the 18th annual Tournament of Champions. A late run from the Seawolves helped them outlast the Wildcats 4-3 on Sunday morning.
"Much better day today," CWU head coach Mike Larabee said. "We left some runners on base early that we didn't take advantage of. We had a nice little run at them and came back and competed really well. I loved the way we bounced back from yesterday and competed throughout the game."
The Wildcats (19-11) had the wind taken out of their sails by the Seawolves (21-9) in the first inning. The Seawolves had two runners in scoring position with two outs in the inning. Cassidy Romano raked a three-run home run that gave the Seawolves an early lead.
The Wildcats answered back in the top of the third inning. Savannah Egbert led off the inning with a triple. Katie Kastning followed with a productive out, hitting a sacrifice fly to center feudal that allowed Egbert to score. Midway through the third inning, the Wildcats trailed 3-1.
In the fifth inning, Rachael Johnson got a chance to show off he speed. Johnson opened the inning with a bunt base hit. She'd go on to steal second base, putting her in scoring position as Egbert stepped to the plate. Egbert roped a single into the outfield, allowing Johnson to race home to score. The Wildcats trailed the Seawolves 3-2.
With one out in the fifth inning, the Seawolves made a pitching change. Teresa Danenberg came to the circle for the Seawolves, and experienced a rough entry into the game. With Egbert on second base, Theresa Moyle drew a walk. The next batter was Maddy Zerr, who was hit by a pitch. The bases were loaded with just one away in the inning. Unfortunately for the Wildcats, they were unable to add any runs in the inning. The score remained 3-2 in favor of the Seawolves entering their half of the fifth inning.
The Wildcats were able to build on their offensive momentum from the fifth inning in the sixth inning. Keegan Wise pinch hit for Sydney Brown, and was able to lead off the inning with a single. Bethany Balucan laid down a nice bunt, and reached first with a single of her own. Johnson also laid down a bunt, but hers turned into a sacrifice that put Wise and third and Balucan on second with just one out in the inning.
Egbert came to the plate with a chance to give the Wildcats the lead. Egbert put the ball in play on the ground towards the short stop. Both runners ran on contact. The fielder chose to toss the ball to third where the Seawolves tagged out Balucan. At the same time, Wise came home to score, tying the game at 3-3.
A lead-off walk proved costly for the Wildcats in the bottom of the sixth inning. White reached on a walk, and would advance to third with just one out in the inning. Lindsey Calcany Blair hit a sacrifice fly to center field that put the Seawolves up 4-3 with just three outs left to get. Despite a walk and a double, the Wildcats couldn't scratch a run across and fell 4-3.
Lexie Strasser (8-7) did an excellent job of settling down after the first inning home run. Strasser pitched the full six innings, striking out five batters while allowing five hits and one walk. Strasser was able to record seven ground outs and six fly outs.
Offensively, the Wildcats out-hit the Seawolves 10-5, but left nine runners on base in the game.
"We are in a little funk right now," Larabee said. "Every team goes through it throughout the course of a season. We saw some great competition and saw great pitching which is only going to make us better. It was probably the best competition we've seen since I've been coaching at Central. Almost all of the teams are teams we could see in a regional. I like the way we finished out this game and our competitiveness."
The Wildcats return to Great Northwest Athletic Conference play on April 6 and April 7 at Gary & Bobbi Frederick Field. The Wildcats host a doubleheader against Simon Fraser that starts at 1:00 p.m. on April 6. The following day features a doubleheader against rival Western Washington that starts at 12:00 p.m
