CAMAS — Slowpitch and fastpitch softball might exist in different seasons, but for Camas, the two are tightly connected.
Equipped with a roster that included some returning fastpitch players, the Papermakers looked to the first Washington Interscholastic Activities Association-sanctioned season as an opportunity, among other things, to sell the sport of softball.
Building excitement for softball is easier when you’re winning games.
And on Tuesday, Camas beat R.A. Long 8-7 to claim the first officially sanctioned district title since the sport was discontinued in 2002.
Camas slowpitch coach Mandy Cervantes hopes the few players who joined the team without having played for the school’s fastpitch team — Chloe Parker and Katelynn Forner both play basketball year-round — take a liking to the experience.
“Not our whole roster plays (fastpitch),” Cervantes said. “Seeing (the ones who don’t) out here and how successful they are, I’d love to see them out in the spring. That’s another opportunity for them to grow and develop as a player, and an athlete in general.”
Slowpitch mirrors most of the same rules as fastpitch, except pitching is tossed high-arching in the air, underhand, and runners are not allowed to lead off or steal bases.
“Hitting is a lot of being patience,” Camas senior Emery Miller said. “That’s huge, something to learn. It really carries over to fastpitch, the patience part.”
And the teamwork, too. Camas led by two runs when R.A. Long scoring three in the top of the fourth — capped by a two-run double — to take a 7-6 lead.
The Papermakers got two on base when Lauren Baffaro and Hanna Peterson each singled. Then Sophie Franklin’s batted ball resulted two errors — an errant throw to first and bobbled throw home — and Camas reclaimed the lead at 8-7.
Despite the Lumberjacks’ late efforts, Camas held on to move to 20-0 on the season. Just as the Papermakers were tested in their first matchup with R.A. Long, they knew the district final would be a significant challenge.
“This was one of our rougher games,” Miller said. “But just being able to pull together as a team in the end is what holds us together. And we all trust each other on the field.”
For the returning players, it’s also a chance to stay fresh in the offseason, work on fundamentals and become familiar with a new coaching staff. Mandy Busby was hired to replace Dale Lunde, who coached at Camas since 2011. Cervantes, a Camas grad whose 2002 fastpitch team brought the school its first state championship, will coach the JV team after four years coaching at Union.
The Papermakers advance to a double-elimination state tournament in Richland on Oct. 27, which is put on by Camas athletic director Rory Oster and Ken VanSickle, AD of Spokane’s University High School.
In past years, the eight-team tournament consisted of four teams from the Greater St. Helens League and four from the Greater Spokane League. When Camas made the tournament in 2017, the Spokane teams took first through fourth place.
GSHL teams have played unsanctioned for years.
The WIAA is awaiting participation numbers and cites the fall of 2019 as the earliest it would put on a slowpitch state championship. Oster said this year’s unsanctioned state tournament features a team from King County and a team from Tri Cities.
“With the WIAA coming in, it’s only going to continue to grow,” Oster said.
And for players such as Parker, who played softball in their youth and are weighing a return to fastpitch, the slowpitch season has motivated a potential return in the upcoming spring season.
“I thought it’d be fun to try out softball again,” Parker said. “I thought I’d try out slowpitch before fastpitch. It’s pretty fun.”
