LACEY — Although they had opposite starts, the Columbia River Chieftains and Prairie Falcons both met the same end Friday in the 3A state softball tournament.
The Chieftains won a classic in their first game of the day, 10-7, against Eastside Catholic, allowing them to advance to the quarterfinals later in the day.
The Falcons lost their first game 10-0 to Lake Washington in five innings, thanks to a dominant pitching and hitting display by Tori Bivens, pushing them to the consolation bracket after one game.
Eastside Catholic took a 7-6 lead heading into the bottom of the sixth, but the Chieftains kept their cool.
River catcher Teaghan Cowles, who had a two-run triple in the second inning, scored the tying run thanks to wonderfully executed bunt by Emma Tucker.
In the middle of all of it, the game was stopped after pitcher Emma Klundt got drilled in the knee with a ball, who still pitched the rest of the game and the two other games the Chieftains had.
“We call her the Ice Queen and I wasn’t sure she was going to get back up and pitched just as hard, if not harder,” Cowles said. “That’s what makes her such a special player.”
The Chieftains tacked on three more runs in the inning, which included Izzy Parkin hitting for the cycle with a triple to drive in two runs.
“I think we really showed our grit in that game, it didn’t matter how many runs they scored” Cowles said. “It was easily one of my favorite games this season to see our entire team. That win was how the rest of our season was.”
On the other side of the complex, it was the complete opposite scenario for Prairie.
The Falcons, however, redeemed themselves with an 8-2 win over Bainbridge.
The stage was set for the Chieftains to advance to the state semifinal, but the bats and gloves for Marysville-Pilchuck as they advanced with an 8-4 win.
Marysville-Pilchuck had a four-run first inning and a three-run fourth.
The bats for River, along with excellent base running, gave them a chance.
However, anytime a River player made solid contact, a Tomahawk player was right there to catch it.
River lost their final game 6-3 to Glacier Peak.
Prairie made a late rally but eventually lost to Kelso 7-5 to end their season.
