The Jackson Timberwolves softball team won’t be sneaking up on anyone when they take the field today at the 4A state championships at SERA Fields in Tacoma.
Teams with 23-0 records and ranked No.1 in the state (most recent Seattle Times rankings) very seldom sneak up on anyone.
The Timberwolves’ very balanced attack is led by pitcher Dani Jackman, who has a record of 12-0, but also boasts a .444 batting average. Third baseman Lindsay Robison bats .517 with 21 RBI for the Timberwolves and first baseman Erin Feeney is no slouch herself, batting .341 with 21 RBI for the season.
Feeney is also no stranger to drama. Her single to center field last week in the 4A district 1 championship game gave the Timberwolves an 11-10 victory over Marysville-Pilchuck in eight innings. It was arguably the Timberwolves’ toughest win of the season after trailing 6-0 early.
The comeback win in the district championship was tough, but Timberwolves coach Mike Moran believes his team can learn from it as well.
“It probably showed them that we can face a deficit and work to get back in the game, and, or win it,” Mike Moran said.
The Timberwolves open up state tournament play against Tacoma’s Stadium High School at 9 a.m. today.
“They are a good team. They were the number two team out of the Narrows league, which is traditionally a pretty tough league,” Moran said.
The Marysville-Pilchuck Tomahawks open up state tournament play against the Richland Bombers at 9 a.m. today.
The Bombers record is 19-7, but most notably handed Walla Walla its only loss of the season.
The Tomahawks (19-3) have two aces on their pitching staff, Jen Rosie and Riley Fritz. Rosie has a 1.80 ERA with four shutouts and two no-hitters for the season. Marysville coach KT Allyn won’t hesitate to switch the pitcher if one of them is struggling.
Offensively, M-P is led by Morgan Martinis with a .434 batting average and 10 double for the season. Fritz, who also plays third baseman bats .347 with 17 RBI and Rosie, also a first baseman bats .345 with 16 runs scored and 14 RBI.
Allyn said of the Tomahawks’ disappointing loss in the district championship game, “you got to let it fuel your fire, it’s behind us now. They can’t wait to play.”
The final team to represent Wesco at the 4A state tournament is the Stanwood Spartans (18-5). Stanwood takes the third seed from District 1 into state for the second year in a row and faces Puyallup in the first round today at 11 a.m.
Players to watch for the Spartans include pitcher Brittany Jeans and catcher Samantha Bingham.
3A district 1 champion Everett also takes its act to Tacoma today for the 3A state championships. The Seagulls defeated Sedro-Woolley 4-1 last week to win the district championship.
“We were pretty big underdogs last week,” Seagulls coach Kyle Peacocke said.
Peacocke added that the young Seagulls are probably underdogs again this week, but that doesn’t seem to bother the girls.
“The girls feel good about how they played and they are hungry,” Peacocke said.
Everett, led by pitcher Lexie Levin — who is hitting .534 with eight doubles, five triples and four home runs, faces Camas in the first round at 1 p.m. today.
The Granite Falls Tigers are the lone Cascade Conference representative in the 2A tournament at Carlon Park in Selah.
The Tigers (21-1) took an undefeated record into the 2A district 1 tournament, but suffered their first defeat at the hands of Sehome in the first round. The Tigers then reeled off three straight wins to take the No. 3 seed from District 1.
Alyssa Arndt gets it done for the Tigers, both from the circle and at the plate. Arndt has a .518 batting average with nine doubles, two home runs and 25 RBI. She also has a record of 17-1 with 90 strikeouts in 67 innings pitched. She has a 1.35 ERA over the past two seasons.
Granite Falls plays Hoquiam in the first round at 10 a.m. today.
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