Confident Timberwolves on a roll

Published 9:13 pm Tuesday, May 25, 2010

Jackson heads to this weekend’s Class 4A state softball tournament quietly confident.

The Timberwolves rallied from a six-run first-inning deficit to defeat Marysville-Pilchuck 11-10 in the 4A District 1 title game May 20 at Sky River Park in Monroe.

Senior Erin Feeney singled in Megan Cooley to score the winning run in the bottom of the eighth inning. Earlier in the week, Jackson clinched a berth to state with a 3-2 victory over Stanwood. Wolfpack senior Dani Jackman threw a complete game, allowing only five hits and striking out nine to improve her record to 12-0.

The Timberwolves’ district title and state berth were especially satisfying after last year’s two-and-out exit from the playoffs.

“We were really excited,” senior captain Kimmi Kumangai said of the team’s success. “We were just pumped. We knew we could win it. We’re super happy to be undefeated still.”

Beating the Tomahawks after falling behind early boosted the Timberwolves’ confidence.

“It makes us feel like nothing can get us down and nobody can beat us,” Kumangai said.

What sets this year’s Jackson squad apart from previous years in Jackman’s opinion is experience and, more specifically, experience playing with each other.

“The core of the girls have been together since they were 8,” she said. “There are five or six. That’s a big key. We know each other really well.”

Jackman and catcher Julia Covello have been teammates for a decade.

Kumangai had a feeling this year’s team was going to be special after the first week of tryouts.

“You could tell something was different about us,” she said.

Every player contributes to the team and that was quite evident in the victory over Marysville-Pilchuck.

“You got 14 girls that didn’t give up,” Jackson coach Mike Moran said.

“No one person can carry the team,” Jackman added. “It’s all 14 of us girls. It’s important stuff.”

The Timberwolves approached the district tournament as “another business trip,” Jackman said.

In past years, Jackson has had to deal with distractions that caused the team to come up short. The Timberwovles are all business this season.

“When we were in the dugout, we had a job to do,” Jackman said. “We love doing that job obviously because we have a lot of fun doing it.”

The Timberwolves’ will be taking that mind set into the state tournament, which runs May 28-29 at the South End Recreation Area fields in Tacoma.

Jackson comes into the tournament with a 23-0 record and some high expectations.

“We just want to play to the best of our ability,” Kumangai said. “We’re not trying to impress anybody. We’re just going to go out and play our game.”

“We’re kind of a quiet, confident team,” Jackman added. “We don’t necessarily try to fly under the radar. We know we’ve got a target on our back, especially being undefeated.”

Jackman welcomes the additional pressure being one of the tournament favorites.

“We react to pressure very well,” she said. “Pressure is not an enemy for us.”