Fastpitch: Wolves go 2-2 at districts, fall short of state

Published 1:30 am Wednesday, May 23, 2018

Two runs. That’s all that separated Sequim from an eighth consecutive state tournament appearance.

The Wolves went 2-2 at the West Central District tournament, falling to Fife in a heart-breaker in the district quarterfinals on May 18 at the Regional Sports Complex in Lacey.

Sequim (10-14) opened the tourney with a 10-8 win over Orting on May 18.

The Wolves scored one run in the first — a home run from Isabelle Dennis on the first pitch — and then erupted for seven runs in the fourth inning to take the lead for good.

Shelby Jones went the distance on the mound while Isabelle Dennis paced Sequim’s offense with a 4-for-4 effort at the plate. Bobbi Sparks had three hits while Brianna Dominguez had two. Orting was led by Kennedy Nasinec and Savannah Hand with three hits each.

Needing a win in the quarterfinals later that day for a state berth, Fife edged the Wolves 8-7 in eight innings — and sending Sequim to the consolation bracket.

A back-and-forth affair, Sequim held a 3-1 lead before giving up three Trojan runs in the third inning. Fife jumped ahead 5-3 after five innings, but Sequim scored runs in the sixth and seventh tie tie it up. A pair of errors in the bottom of the eight, however, spelled doom for the Wolves.

Dominguez led Sequim with three hits, including a second inning home run, while Dennis, Sparks, Ashleigh Cate, Latisha Robideau, and Raelynn Opdyke each had two hits. Shelby Jones added a home run in the fourth inning. For Fife, Angelina Green, Alexys Jaskari, Madison Johnson, Rachel Lewis and Gwen Hagen each had two hits.

In their final game on May 18, Sequim rebounded with a 9-6 win over Washington, a come-from-behind victory to stave off elimination.

The Patriots took an early three-run lead, with Emily Moore reaching by errors and Noelani Souza clearing the bases with a home run.

Sequim struggled at the plate, coach Tim Lusk said, until the sixth inning — when the Wolves plated five runs.

Dennis had four hits and her second home run of the day. Dominguez, Sparks and Jayla Julmist each had three hits. Raelynn Opdyke added a home run in the seventh. Souza led Washington with two hits.

Needing two more wins on May 19 to advance to state, Sequim dropped an 11-3 contest against the White River Hornets. Sequim scored three runs in the second inning but couldn’t score again, as White River’s defense and pitching shut down the Wolves’ bats. The Hornets plated four runs in the fourth inning and four more in the seventh. Senior shortstop Megan Vandegrift led White River with two hits, including a home run. Opdyke led Sequim with two hits.

Olympic League champ Port Angeles beat league rival North Kitsap for the district championship.

The Olympic League took the district’s top three seeds — the Roughriders, Vikings and Olympic Trojans — to state. Fife takes the fourth seed while White River went on to capture the fifth and final district seed to state.