The Seton Catholic softball team clinched a berth to the 1A state tournament by reaching the final of the 1A district tournament on Wednesday at Fort Borst Park in Centralia.
The Cougars rallied with a nine-run bottom of the sixth to beat Elma 14-8 in the semifinals to punch their state ticket.
Elma took an 8-5 lead after its half of the sixth, but Seton came back with four RBI singles plus a fielder’s choice and a ground out that brought home runs and suddenly a three-run deficit was a six-run lead.
Seton set down Elma 1-2-3 in the seventh to seal the win. Jocelyn Kender had two of her 13 strikeouts in the final inning.
Alyssa Mancuso was the only Cougars player with more than one hit as she went 2 for 4 with a double, three RBI and two runs scored. Kingsley Williams hit a solo home run and scored three runs.
Seton (18-4) will play Montesano at 4 p.m. Saturday for the district title.
La Center stays alive
The Wildcats held off Castle Rock’s seventh-inning rally to stay alive in the district tournament with a 10-8 win in the loser-out game.
Hoquiam beat the Wildcats earlier Wednesday 15-2 to put La Center’s season on the brink.
La Center had four player with three hits each against Castle Rock.
Jessica Tomberlin was 3 for 4 with three runs, Lauren Baker was 3 for 5 with two doubles, a triple and two RBI, Billie Ross went 3 for 5 with a triple, home run and three RBI, and Kaleena Duggins was 3 for 5 with two triples and two RBI. Duggins was also 2 for 3 in the loss to Hoquiam.
La Center took a 10-7 lead into the bottom of the seventh inning. Castle Rock pushed in a run on a two-out double by Andi Rister and had runners at second and third but had the third out recorded at the plate on what was scored as a steal attempt.
The Wildcats need two wins on Saturday to reach the state tournament. They will play Elma at noon in a loser-out game. The survivor then plays a winner-to-state game at 4 p.m. against either Eatonville or Hoquiam.
Boys track and field
The rivalry of two of the state’s top shot putters was on display again at the 4A/3A bi-district meet in Kent as Juan Pasillas-Stanton of Mountain View beat Will Porter of Prairie.
Pasillas-Stanton, a junior, easily won with a throw of 58 feet, 11.5 inches. Foster was second at 52-11.75, and Prairie’s Wyatt Galipeau (51-5.75) made it a GSHL sweep of the top three spots.
Foster did pick up a victory in the discus throw, winning at 175-5. Heritage’s Drayden Starke-Shaffer placed second in the triple jump (43-3.25).
In the 4A meet, Caden Socquet (400, 50.06 seconds) and Jared Williams (javelin, 163-0) of Camas and Grant Harris of Union (high jump, 6-0) earned runner-up finishes.
Girls track and field
Ava Pawlowski of Union led a GSHL sweep of the pole vault at the 4A/3A bi-district meet in Kent.
Pawlowski won the 4A pole vault at 11-9. She was followed by Karina Cooper (11-6) and Sneha Shankar (11-3) of Camas in the top three spots.
Boys golf
Led by Spencer Moody’s round of 67, the Mountain View boys golf team took a first-round lead at the 3A bi-district tournament at Auburn Golf Club.
Moody led all golfers in the first round and takes a three-shot lead into Thurdsday’s final round.
Mountain View’s Alex Rigby was in fourth with a 72 and Grady Millar was in sixth at 74. Heritage’s Tanner Moody was ninth at 76.
At the 4A bi-district tournament in Tacoma, the Camas boys secured a state team berth by placing fourth.
The Papermakers were led by Andre Kosaki’s 10th-place finish, shooting 152 for 36 holes.
Union’s Ty Rushing and Ty Sutton also earned individual state berths.
