Two years ago, Sequim was the surprise of the state 2A tournament.

Last year, the Wolves were surprised themselves, getting bumped just one game into districts.

Sequim’s fastpitch squad is hoping for more of the 2007 charm when they take on Fife in the first round of the West Central District tournament at 6 p.m. on May 22 at the Sprinker Recreation Center in Tacoma.

Sequim, the Olympic League’s No. 3 seed, needs to beat Fife and one of their next two games to avoid elimination.

Fife tallied a 6-3 mark in Nisqually League play and 10-3 record overall.

The winner of the game takes on North Mason, the Olympic League No. 1 seed, in the district semifinal at noon on Saturday. The loser of the semifinal games play each other for the district’s third and final seed to state at 4 p.m. on Saturday, the same time as the district championship game.

The Wolves were scheduled to play Chimacum on May 18 (results were unavailable at press time) and Port Angeles on May 20, Sequim’s final warm-ups before districts.

Sequim fell 2-0 to Port Angeles on May 4, thanks to a five-hit shutout tossed by P.A’s Stacy Webb.

With the loss and a pair of Klahowya wins, Klahowya’s Eagles overtook Sequim for the Olympic League No. 2 seed.

Sequim coach Mel Hendrickson said that isn’t necessarily a bad thing. With a win against Fife, Sequim would see North Mason, a team they nearly beat twice this season. The Bulldogs survived a 4-3 game at home and a 2-1 contest in Sequim.

Getting past Fife isn’t going to be easy. All three of the Trojans’ losses this year came at the hands of an undefeated Steilacoom squad. Hurler Tessa Wagner leads the Tacoma-area school.

Throw in a flu bug that hit up to eight Sequim players this week and the Wolves are looking at an uphill battle to return to the state tourney.

"I think we can play with anybody," Hendrickson said. "We’ve just got to put the ball in play."

In 2007, Sequim survived two elimination games to qualify for state, then knocked off highly-touted teams Archbishop Murphy and W.F. West, then became the only team

to score more than a run against North Mason, the eventual 2A state champ, in a 5-3 loss. Sequim finished fifth overall, the best finish in the school’s history.

Reach Michael Dashiell at miked@sequimgazette.com.

Olympic League standings

(as of May 17)

Team Lg. Over.

North Mason 15-1 17-1

Port Angeles 13-3 13-4

Klahowya 12-4 12-5

Sequim 11-5 13-4

Kingston 7-9 7-10

Olympic 6-10 6-12

North Kitsap 5-11 5-11

Bremerton 3-13 3-13

Pt. Townsend 0-16 0-16