PORT ANGELES — The Olympic Peninsula will have three teams playing 10 miles apart in three separate tournaments at the state softball tournaments beginning Friday.
The Port Angeles Roughriders (17-5), who finished second at the West Central District 2/3 tournament, begin play at the 2A state tournament at Carlon Park in Selah at 9 a.m. Friday against Cedarcrest. Port Angeles is a No. 6 seed and ranked No. 7 in Ratings Percentage Index, while Cedarcrest (14-8), out of Duvall, is a No. 11 seed and ranked No. 15 in RPI.
Win or lose, the Riders move on to play either No. 14-seed East Valley of Yakima (16-8, No. 13 in RPI) or No. 3 Ridgefield (20-4, No. 5 in RPI), at either 1:30 p.m. (if they lose their opening game) or 3:30 p.m. Friday (if they win).
There are three Olympic League teams at state. North Kitsap (21-0) is seeded No. 1 and ranked No. 1 in RPI. Olympic (14-9) is a No. 12 seed.
One fact to keep in mind about the Riders. Three out of their five losses were to North Kitsap, two in the regular season and one in the district tournament championship game. All three games were relatively close (7-4, 7-5, 14-10), so Port Angeles’ ranking and seeding could be a tad low.
Forks
Meanwhile, Forks will be playing in the state 2B tournament beginning at 10 a.m. Friday at the Gateway Sports Complex in Yakima.
Forks (14-7, No. 9 in RPI), the co-champion of the Pacific 2B League, is a No. 7 seed and the Spartans will face No. 10 seed Brewster (17-6, No. 7 in RPI). The Spartans must win this game to move on to the second round. If they win, the play No. 2 Warden (19-4, No. 2 RPI) at 2 p.m. Friday. Win or lose that game, they move on to games Saturday with their opening game at 10 a.m. either in the state semifinals or the consolation bracket.
Quilcene
Quilcene only got to play 11 games this year but won the Sea-Tac 1B League and its district playoff tournament with a 9-2 record.
The Rangers begin play in the 1B state tournament, also at the Gateway Sports Complex, at noon Friday. Quilcene is a No. 7 seed and No. 3 in RPI and plays No. 2 seed Inchelium (20-3, No. 2 in RPI). Win or lose, the Rangers move on to a 4 p.m. game Friday either in the state semifinals or the consolation bracket. They will play either No. 6 Mossyrock (14-7, No. 7 in RPI) or No. 3 Sunnyside Christian (18-8, No. 4 in RPI).
