YAKIMA — Quilcene High School just keeps coming up with those all-time firsts this 2013 spring season.
For the second time in two weeks, another Ranger team has rewritten the history books.
A week ago the baseball team won its first-ever state game in the 1B playoffs.
This holiday weekend was the softball team’s turn to have some glory.
The Rangers won their first-ever state softball game when they beat Pateros 7-4 in a game that wasn’t really that close in the 1B tournament in the do-or-die consolation quarterfinals at the Gateway Sports Complex in Yakima on Saturday.
“That was a big, big win for us,” Quilcene softball coach Mark Thompson said.
The good times didn’t end there.
In another first, the Rangers shaded Selkirk 5-4 in the loser-out consolation semifinals Sunday afternoon to guarantee placing in the top four at state for the first time in fastpitch softball.
The Rangers were playing Touchet in the third-fourth place final late Sunday, and the loser can’t get anything worse than fourth place. Results weren’t available by press time.
Quilcene did win the state slowpitch title in 1988, but slowpitch is not the same sport as fastpitch softball, which the Rangers are playing now.
The Rangers opened the 1B softball tournament, which was delayed a day because of rain storms from Friday to Saturday, by losing to perennial state power Almira/Coulee-Hartline (18-5) in the first round.
Almira, which lost to Colton in the championship game in 2011 and 2012 and was scheduled to play Colton for the title once again later Sunday, beat the Rangers 10-6.
“We should have won that game,” Thompson said.
The Rangers stayed on the Warriors’ heels most of the game, trailing just 6-5 going into the seventh inning.
But the Warriors scored four runs in the top of the seventh thanks to a couple of errors by Quilcene’s youngsters.
“We gave [Almira] all they could handle,” Thompson said.
“The seventh inning did us in. We made a couple of mistakes because we are very young. This experience will help us in the future.
“We have two starting eighth graders and four or five starting freshmen.”
The young Rangers, however, were in this game the whole way.
Sophomore pitching ace Sammy Rae struck out 10 while spreading out nine hits.
Megan Weller, a freshman, carried the big bat in that first game as she went 2 for 4 with two doubles and two RBI, while Rae and Celsea Hughes both had a hit and an RBI each.
Alexis Drake, an eighth grader, had a two-run pinch-hit double in the sixth inning that kept the Rangers in the game.
Almira starting pitcher Ashley Hughes not only picked up the win but also went 3 for 4 with a triple.
“She hurt us with her pitching and hitting,” Thompson said.
“She’s a good little player.”
In Quilcene’s second game, Rae went a perfect 4 for 4 at bat and struck out another 10 batters on the mound in the Rangers’ 7-4 victory over Pateros.
Quilcene went ahead 2-0 in the first, 3-1 in the third and broke it open with four runs in the fourth for a 7-2 lead.
Pateros got two more runs back in the top of the seventh.
Rae hit a triple while hitting in two runs and scoring another two runs.
“Sammy Rae definitely was our catalyst in the game,” Thompson said.
Emily Ward, a freshman, and Weller both scored two runs while Weller also had an RBI.
Hughes and eighth-grader Katie Bailey also produced an RBI each in the game.
“We played very good defense,” Thompson said.
“They played small ball against us, and we definitely defended that better than we have all year.
“We defended the bunt well, and we stayed with that the entire game.”
Starting shortstop Allison Jones, another one of those eighth graders, had an outstanding defensive game, Thompson added.
“Allison made a lot of outs in that second game, including the final out,” he said.
Plus there was a lot of movement in Quilcene’s bats during those first two state games.
“I was happy with our offense in both of those games,” Thompson said.
“Our hitting is coming around.”
1B State First Round
Almira/Coulee-Hartline 10, Quilcene 6
Almira 2 1 1 0 0 2 4 — 10 9 1
Quilcene 0 0 2 1 0 2 1 — 6 7 3
WP- Hughes; LP- Rae
Pitching Statistics
Almira: Hughes 7IP, 7H, 6R.
Quilcene: Rae 7IP, 9H, 10R, 10K.
Hitting Statistics
Almira: Hughes 3-4, 3B, R; Sample 1-3, HR; Jorgesen 2B.
Quilcene: Weller 2-4, 2B (2), 2RBI; Rae RBI; Hughes 1-2, RBI; Drake 1-1, 2B, 2RBI.
1B State Consolation QF
Quilcene 7, Pateros 4
Pateros 0 0 1 0 1 0 2 — 4 4 0
Quilcene 2 0 1 4 0 0 x — 7 8 1
WP- Rae
Pitching Statistics
Quilcene: Rae 7IP, 4H, 4R, 10K.
Hitting Statistics
Pateros: Wilson 2-4; Gilston 1-2, R.
Quilcene: Rae 4-4, 3B, 2RBI 2R; Ward 2R; Weller 1-3, 2R, RBI; Hughes 1-1, RBI; Bailey RBI.
