SPANAWAY — Rounding first base and heading to second on her second grand-slam home run trot of the day, Port Angeles senior Lauren Lunt shrugged her shoulders as if she couldn’t believe her good fortune.
Her second bases-clearing bomb of the day gave the Roughriders a 6-1 lead on a determined White River team and Port Angeles rolled from there in a 13-2 rout of the Hornets in the Class 2A West Central District Softball Championship on Saturday at Sprinker Recreation Center.
The district title is the first in school history according to head coach Randy Steinman. The Riders (19-1) will face District 5/6/7 No. 3 seed Selah at Carlon Park in Selah at noon Friday in the first round of the state tournament.
Lunt’s shoulder shake also bore some similarities to Michael Jordan’s “Is this really happening?” shrug when he drained six 3-pointers in a 1992 NBA Finals game.
After the game Lunt said she wasn’t sure why she shrugged as she has confidence in her abilities to hit for power — she also connected on a grand slam in the first inning of Port Angeles’ 16-0 semifinal win over Orting earlier Saturday — but was more than happy to quiet a rowdy Hornets team.
“They are a really good team and they were loud and a little cocky to start the game,” Lunt said.
White River connected with a jab — an early 1-0 lead on Port Angeles after two innings in a rematch of an 18-3 nonleague win by the Riders earlier this month.
Steinman said he thought his team would face the Hornets again at some point in the postseason. His team jumped all over White River in an 18-3 rout in a nonleague game between the two district powers earlier this month.
Steinman said any second game between the teams would be different and closer. He was correct early on before the Riders started to roll.
“They jumped on us 1-0,” Steinman said. “We had to weather that a little bit.”
The Riders put runners on base in the first and second innings, but a couple of base running miscues prevented Port Angeles from scoring.
Patient hitting with two outs in both the top of the third and top of the fourth innnings led to Port Angeles seizing the lead for good.
Lunt drew a two-out walk in the top of the third to prolong the inning then slugger Natalie Steinman made them pay with an energizing two-run home run that sent White River’s center fielder sprawling over the temporary fence.
After two quick outs in the fourth, Taylar Clark worked the count and drew another walk. Nikaila Price followed with a single to center and Sierra Robinson laid down a bunt single to load the bases.
Enter Lunt. Exit baseball.
“We scored the first six runs starting with two outs and nobody on base,” coach Steinman said. “That’s huge. It’s like the old Mariners motto: ‘Two outs, so what.’”
The home runs opened up the flood gates for the Riders.
Shots to the right-center gap helped Port Angeles add runs on an RBI single by Ashley Howell and an RBI triple by Price for an 8-1 lead after five innings.
“From the home runs to Nikki’s triple in the gap there, we were squaring up,” coach Steinman said.
The Riders pushed three across in the sixth, Steinman roped a line drive to White River shortstop and University of Washington commit Megan Vandegrift that was hit so hard Vandegrift couldn’t keep the ball in her glove.
The error scored Robinson, and Port Angeles added runs on an infield single by Erin Edwards and a bases-loaded walk of Howell.
Steinman and Nizhoni Wheeler added RBI singles in the top of the seventh to account for all the Riders runs.
Wheeler bore down on White River’s hitters, striking out 10 in a complete-game five hitter.
“Nizhoni pitched a great game out there,” coach Steinman said.
All told, Port Angeles outscored its district opponents 29-2 in its three district wins.
“We’ve been hitting like this all year,” coach Steinman said.
And if they keep it up at state, the Riders may come home with another trophy.
Sequim to state
Meanwhile, Sequim (14-10), which beat Fife 15-2 Saturday afternoon to finish fifth at the West Central District 2A tournament will play Mountlake Terrace at 10 a.m. on Friday at Carlon Park to begin its state tournament. The Wolves won five out of six games at District, including two “lower out” games to advance to state.
