May 5—BOX SCORE
At Tumwater HS
BEARCATS 7, T-BIRDS 2
W.F. West210 100 3 — 7
Tumwater000 000 2 — 2
WFW Pitching — Tay. Tobin 7 IP, 4 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 8 SO. Highlights — Smitherman 1-4, HR, RBI, R; Fragner 1-4, 3B, R; Rasmussen 1-3, RBI, BB; Coleman 1-2, R, 2 BB
TUM Pitching — Stevens 7 IP, 6 H, 7 R (2 ER), 7 BB, 4 SO. Highlights — Smith 1-3, HR, 2 RBI, R; Skillman 1-3, R
Some lineup shuffling didn’t bother the Bearcats on Monday afternoon, putting themselves on the doorstep of an Evergreen Conference title with a 7-2 victory over Tumwater on the road.
Freshman Brooklyn Spencer moved into the leadoff spot and Allie Smitherman bumped up to the No. 2 hole and Rayah Middleton slotted into the No. 5 spot. Spencer stole two bases and Middleton reached base twice, but Smitherman opened the scoring.
The center fielder deposited the first pitch she saw from Tumwater starter Sarah Stevens over the right field fence for a solo home run. Karly Rasmussen added an RBI single and Tanner Tobin scored on an error in the second.
“We were putting pressure on them, something we haven’t done much in the past,” Bearcats head coach Kevin Zylstra said. “The girls are hitting on all cylinders.”
W.F. West (16-2, 12-1 EvCo) added three more runs in the seventh, the last two on errors. It took advantage of six T-Bird miscues to be one win away from a league title. It could come as soon as Wednesday in the final Swamp Cup meeting against Centralia at Rec Park.
Taylor Tobin fanned eight hitters and allowed four hits on just 97 pitches. The two runs she gave up were by Riley Smith’s two-run home run for the T-Birds (10-8, 7-6). Tumwater, locked into the No. 3 seed for districts, will take on Black Hills on Wednesday.