YAKIMA — The scary thing for other 2B softball teams in the state for the next year or two? Forks has an incredibly young softball team.
In fact, the Spartans’ two main pitchers aren’t even high schoolers yet. They’re both eighth-graders, allowed to play varsity at the 2B level.
Despite all that youth, the Forks softball team won four out of five games at the 2B state tournament in Yakima and came in third place.
Forks started off Friday by beating Kittitas-Thorp 12-2. The Spartans then lost to Adna 10-5 in the 2B quarterfinals, putting them in the third-place bracket.
Once in the consolation bracket, the team erupted. The Spartans began by beating Lake Roosevelt 19-8, Rainier 17-6 and Colfax 13-8 in the third-place game.
Adna, the only team to beat Forks at either the state or district tournaments, made it to the championship game and finished second. Pe Ell-Willapa Valley, a team from the Pacific 2B League that Forks plays in, won the state 2B championship by beating Adna 11-0.
After beginning the season 0-2 and 3-4, the Spartans ended up 21-8, winning 18 out of their last 22 games and going 7-2 in the postseason. Forks also finished third at district, with the Spartans’ only loss to Adna.
“We honestly struggled early,” said coach Traci Kratzer. “They came so far from the beginning of the season to now.”
Kratzer said a lot of media from other areas treated the Spartans like a big underdog, especially from the Central B League area.
“I’m so proud. Our girls really held their own,” she said.
Kratzer said the Spartans only graduate one senior and their main pitcher, Chloe Gaydeski, is an eighth-grader. Their top relief pitcher, Grace Gooding, is another eighth-grader. A team that finished 4-1 at the state tournament is bringing back its top two pitchers for another four years. The Spartans have six freshmen, four sophomores and three juniors.
Top players who contributed at state were Kyra Neel, shortstop Kadie Wood, Elisabeth Soto and all-around great athlete Kiara Johnson, the top basketball player for the Spartans.
“Kadie really excelled at constantly getting on base. Elisabeth hit a lot of doubles,” Kratzer said. “Kiara is an awesome centerfielder.”
Kratzer said that even in the one loss for the Spartans at state, it wasn’t a bad game, but simply one bad inning against Adna.
Port Angeles, Sequim
SELAH — Meanwhile, both Port Angeles and Sequim won close games at the state 2A tournament in nearby Selah, but they both ended up going 1-2 and were not able to place.
Both Olympic League teams got difficult draws at the state 2A tournament.
Port Angeles started off as a No. 8 seed and beat Ridgefield in its opening game Friday 11-10 on a dramatic, walk-off home run by Peyton Rudd. Unfortunately, the Roughriders then had to play the No. 1 seed in the tournament, 24-1 Othello in the second round, and Othello won 6-1.
Othello went on to the state 2A championship game, losing to Tumwater 13-3.
In the consolation bracket, the Riders played Rochester and lost 14-12.
Sequim started off as a No. 15 seed and was forced to play No. 2-seed WF West in its opening game, losing 10-3. WF West ended up third in the state.
In the consolation bracket, the Wolves got into a pair of slugfests. They bounced back by beating Cedarcrest 14-12 on a home run in the seventh inning by Mia Pozernick, then lost to Ellensburg 14-13 to knock them out of the tournament.
The Riders finished the season 20-5. They graduate starting pitcher Teagan Clark, Rudd, league MVP Zoe Smithson, Anne Edwards and Emi Halberg but bring back the rest of their team next year.
The Wolves finished 14-10. They graduate Addie Smith, Lily Fili, Katelynn Glass and first-team all-leaguer Christy Grubb.
