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Camas comes out top dog in 3A GSHL softball

Papermakers take down Kelso in district title game

By Paul Valencia, Columbian High School Sports Reporter
Published: May 14, 2011, 12:00am

This is more like it for the Camas Papermakers.

This is how they envisioned their softball season.

This is their championship moment.

Just days after finishing third in the Class 3A Greater St. Helens League, the Papermakers won three consecutive games in the district tournament, including a 9-5 win Friday over 2009 and 2010 state champion Kelso to earn the district championship.

“The beginning of the season didn’t really reflect how we are as a team now,” said Sarah Nidick, who got the pitching win and also had three hits in the title game at Fort Vancouver High School. “We’ve gotten to know each other, and we’ve learned to trust each other.”

Camas, Kelso, Prairie, and Mountain View will represent the 3A GSHL at the 12-team bi-district tournament next week in Tacoma, each trying to earn one of five berths to the state tournament.

Camas has won six in a row since a doubleheader loss to Prairie on May 2. The Papermakers avenged those losses to Prairie with a 7-2 win over the Falcons in the district semifinals earlier Friday. Plus, the streak now includes two wins over Kelso, a program that won the past two Class 4A state titles prior to moving to Class 3A this school year.

“I like showing Kelso they’re not the top dog. That’s the best part of it,” said Mikaela Searight, who went 4 for 5 and drove in three runs against the Hilanders.

The Papermakers really showed they can hit the ball. Camas recorded 16 hits against Kelso, 27 for the day.

Brindl Langley, No. 9 in the lineup, went 3 for 4 and drove in two runs against Kelso.

“You need to do your job,” Langley said. “Whether you’re at the top of the order, or the bottom of the order, you need a hit. That’s the bottom line. The mentality is hit.”

Sometimes just putting the ball in play helps, too. Camas broke open a tie game with four unearned runs in the fifth inning. The Papermakers had four hits but also took advantage of three errors in the frame to take a 7-3 lead. Langley and Searight each had run-scoring singles.

Searight added a two-run single in the top of the seventh for a six-run advantage. Kelso’s Brittney Sanders blasted a two-run homer in the bottom of the frame, but Nidick and the Camas defense got out of the inning to earn the trophy.

“I felt relaxed going into the game,” Nidick said. “Today I really hit my spots (except for a couple of pitches, but that’s OK.) Having my defense get the outs they did made me feel more relaxed.”

Cali Mulholland, the No. 8 hitter, also had three hits. Mulholland and Langley drove in the first Camas runs with singles in the second inning. Erin Carson singled in a run in the fourth for the Papermakers.

Camas pitcher Harli Hubbard struck out 10 in the team’s first game of the day.

“She was lights out,” Camas coach Ken Nidick said. “She was exactly how I know Harli can do. Today, when it really mattered, she pitched a great game.”

Erin Tauscher launched a two-run home run in the win over Prairie, the first victory over the Falcons in nine tries with Ken Nidick as coach.

“The girls were mad at themselves,” Ken Nidick said, referring to how they played earlier in the season. “We just wanted another opportunity to show people we have a pretty decent team. And when we’re playing well, we’re probably a little better than decent.”

The Papermakers earned an easier path to state but still must win at bi-district to advance.

“We just need to know we can keep going from here,” Searight said. “We have to keep attacking, play hard, and have a good time.”

“It’s hammer time,” Langley said.

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Columbian High School Sports Reporter