The Columbian | Serving Clark County, Washington

As it turns out, the most dramatic part of the day for the Heritage softball team Saturday came before the first pitch was tossed.

“I got out here at 8:15 (a.m.) and we got the field ready,” Heritage coach Angie Michaelis said. “Then at noon, it just dumped down rain, and we had to start all over again. Bothell said they’d be willing to stay around, so I’m glad we got the game in.”

As they did before the game, the Bothell Cougars hung around during the game, too. But in the fifth inning, Heritage produced a deluge of its own, scoring nine runs in the fifth inning to seal a 10-0 win in the Class 4A bi-district game.

Next up for the Timberwolves: the state tournament. It marks Heritage’s first trip to state since 2002.

“When I was a freshman, I played on a team that won one game,” senior pitcher Britney Sorenson said. “We made it our goal to make it to state by the time we were seniors, and now we’ve done it. We are so excited.”

The nine-run fifth inning sealed the win for Heritage. But the way Sorenson was pitching, the Timberwolves may have won with the one run they scored in the third on Brooke Sorenson’s single to center.

Britney Sorenson struck out four in a five-inning no-hitter, although that fact was a surprise to her.

“I thought they were hitting me pretty hard,” she said. “But I guess they didn’t get any hits. I had no idea. I guess I was just thinking about the walks.”

The senior pitcher was a bit wild early, walking two in the first inning and one more in the second. But then she settled down to retire the next eight in a row before hitting a batter in the fifth.

“I think it just took her a while to get warmed up,” Michaelis said. “We had a real quick warm-up after we got the field ready, and I think she was still getting warm those first couple of innings. But after that, it was smooth sailing.”

The Timberwolves’ bats also took a little while to warm up to the off-speed pitching of Bothell’s Savannah Ross.

But in the fifth, the Heritage had nine consecutive batters reach base and score, ending the game on the 10-run rule.

Seniors Desirae Cook and Alyssa Huss had two-run singles, while Brooke Sorenson and Leila Stutesman added run-scoring doubles in the inning. When Britney Sorenson’s single slipped past the Bothell right fielder, Huss came home with the final run.

“This team has been the underdogs all year,” Michaelis said. “No expected anything from them. But they worked hard and now they’re peaking at the right time. ... This is the best team I’ve ever coached, and they’re a fun bunch. They like to have fun every day.”

And the fun will continue in Tacoma at the 4A state tournament next weekend.

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