Stadium snags district crown

Photo by rocky ross

DISTRICT CHAMPS. The Stadium Tigers rebounded from two late-season losses to take the West Central District title May 16 and 17. The Tigers had to do it without shortstop Devynne Nelons (blue) in the title game against Central Kitsap due to injury.

Redemption can be sweet.

After losing the Narrows League championship to Wilson the weekend before, the Stadium Tigers rebounded in the West Central District playoffs. The Tigers (19-2) swept all four of its games in order to win the first district title in Stadium fast-pitch history.

For most of the season, the Tigers were a softball-playing machine. Rolling over opponents with ease and rocking an undefeated record going into a meaningless non-conference game against Steilacoom May 2, the Tigers were confident. But against the Sentinels, they hit a snag – losing 6-1 to end their undefeated season – and in the Narrows League playoffs, they lost again, a 5-2 defeat at the hands of rival Wilson.

But they took those losses in stride and learned from them.

“I think it gave us good perspective,” said catcher Sarah Glennon of the two losses. “We had to step it up. Wilson beat us and it was a rude awakening and we had to get ready.”  

They showed up at Sprinker Recreation Center in Parkland ready to shock the world – or at least the West Central District. The Tigers downed Curtis and Puyallup – by scores of 3-2 and 2-1 respectively – to clinch their third straight bid to the state playoffs on day one.

But they weren’t done there. Against Kentlake in the semifinals, the Tigers faced their toughest test yet. Though Kentlake was the No. 5 seed out of the South Puget Sound League (SPSL), it had only lost one game in the regular season.

“We had to play a very good Kentlake squad and we have a lot of respect for them – I was surprised we were able to beat them,” said Stadium coach Lynn Batchelder. “I lose one of my starters to a broken finger (shortstop Devynne Nelons), and we don’t have a lot of depth and it’s ninety degrees out – I have a lot of respect for the SPSL, so this is a surprise.”

After falling down 1-0, the Tigers rallied with five runs in the bottom of the fifth to go on and score a 5-1 win against Kentlake. That victory set up a match up with fellow Narrows League squad Central Kitsap in the finals.

Both the Cougars and Stadium went scoreless through the first two innings, but in the bottom of the third, the Tigers bats came roaring to life. No. 9 hitter Stephanie Reddaway led things off with and infield single to start the rally. Kurtz and Glennon followed with singles of their own to load the bases.

“We came alive in the third inning – once we get going, you can’t stop us,” Glennon said, with Kurtz adding that hitting is “a chain reaction on our team.”

With the bases full and no outs, Rebecca Cable stepped up to the plate and pushed a single right back up the middle, scoring Reddaway and Kurtz on the play. After a pitch hit Samantha Miller to reload the bases, freshman Katelin Sisk drove Glennon home with a single of her own.

Stadium had a 3-0 lead at that time, but it could have easily been more. With one out, Heidy Wells hit the ball to the Central Kitsap shortstop, who fired it home past the catcher. Cable was able to score on the play, but the inning was ended when the Cougars were able to complete a 2-5-6-1-6-5 double play. But the Tigers still held a 4-0 advantage going into the fourth.

Central Kitsap was able to eek out a run in the top of the sixth, but by then it was too late. The Tigers went on to win the game and the district title 4-1. Kurtz pitched every inning of the two-day, four-game tournament.

“I don’t take anything for granted – I just wanted to earn a berth to State for our three seniors who have carried the load for the last four years,” Batchelder said. “I didn’t expect it to come this far, this is a hard tournament to win – it’s great for our younger players and our team as a whole to come together and have these challenges.”

Now the Tigers are getting ready for the state tournament, hoping to improve on their semifinals appearance of a year ago. They will face Central Valley in the first round at 11 a.m. May 23 at SERA.

“We’ve always wanted to go back to State,” Glennon said. “We were so close last year and we want to get further.”

Commenting rules