Survive and advance.
Last season the Astoria girls were facing a first-round defeat before they rallied to win the game — and a state softball championship followed. On Tuesday, the Fishermen began their state title defense at CMH Field against North Bend/Reedsport.
On paper, the game looked straightforward for the Fishermen. The girls had already blasted North Bend 10-0 in their other matchup this season, but as last season proved, playoff games are sometimes not as they seem.
For those unfamiliar with last season, here’s a brief recap. The Fishermen came into it flying high as the third-ranked team in the state. They were taking on a Dalles team that was going through a bit of a rebuild due to losing a number of players to 6A programs. The matchup quickly turned into a struggle as the Fishermen were a no hit through the first six innings and if not for finding some magic in the bottom of the seventh, the girls would not have been state champions last year.
Fast forward to Tuesday. The Fishermen left little doubt what the result would be. Behind a huge game from sophomore nine-hitter Maggie Falleur, the Fishermen cruised to a 7-0 victory. Despite the Fishermen getting great production from the bottom of their order and pitcher Taryen Wray having another 13-strikeout game, head coach Kent Israel still feels like there’s another level left for his team to reach.
“We came out and did our job,” Israel said. “Taryen pitched well, the bottom of our order hit the ball really well, the top of our order was a little off today, but the bottom of the order picked it up. Falleur had two hits, a three-run home run, which was nice. We left a lot of runners on base.
“Every playoff game is hard to win because each team has a little more pressure — because you lose that game and you’re done. This is the eighth playoff game for our junior class, and they seem to play their best when there’s more pressure.”
Entering the season, Astoria coaches talked about how deep the lineup was going to be. Most teams in 4A don’t have a ninth-place hitter that can homer three times in a four-game stretch like Falleur has done. On Tuesday, the seventh-, eighth- and ninth-place hitters of Kate Barendse, Kysa Whitsett and Falleur were a combined 6-10 with five runs batted in. This was a stark contrast to the Fishermen’s 1-6 hitters who had just had five hits and 1 RBI between them.
The depth of Astoria’s lineup along with the pitching of Wray gives them a great opportunity to repeat, but Israel notes that the games will get harder from here and the Fishermen will need to be more productive with runners on base to defeat teams like Scappoose, St. Helens, The Dalles and potentially their next opponent, Marist Catholic.
“Marist and Stayton are about the same level, so it’s going to be a step up in competition,” Israel said. “We will need to play to win — but if Taryen keeps throwing like she is, then we have a chance to win.”
The quarterfinals of the 4A state tournament between Astoria and Marist will be played at 5 p.m. on Friday at CMH Field. The winner of this game will travel to Scappoose for the 4A state semifinals on June 2.
Warrenton softball makes history
The 2026 Warrenton softball team will forever have its name etched in the school’s record books.
For the first time in the 44-year history of the program, Warrenton’s softball team was good enough to earn a home playoff game. Due to weather, the Warriors didn’t have the privilege of playing on their home softball field; they instead played at Astoria’s CMH Field. Nonetheless, the support for the girls didn’t change.
Parents, spectators and even members of Astoria’s softball team all came out to support the Warriors in their game against Brookings Harbor on Monday afternoon.
Unlike the higher levels 4A and above, the smaller schools see 20 schools officially qualify for the state tournament. Round one consists of four play in games between the eight lowest seeded teams. With Warrenton being the No. 13 seed, the team hosted No. 20 seed Brookings Harbor.
Crowd anticipation was high, but at first, the Warrenton girls stumbled. Behind some fielding mistakes and nerves the girls gave up two runs in the top of the first inning. But the Warriors settled in fast.
They proceeded to score at least one run in five of the six innings to take home a 7-2 victory. The Warriors scored one run in the first and second, two in the fourth, one in the fifth and two in the sixth. Behind a 10-strikeout game from pitcher Scarlet Anderson, the Warriors got to celebrate on the CMH field and booked their ticket to Dayton for Wednesday’s second-round game.
Warrenton senior Lucy Smith had a standout game at the plate as she went 3-3 with two runs batted in. Fellow senior Natalie Pike went 1-3 with an RBI and fifth-place hitter Natalie Davis went 1-3 with 1 RBI.