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LEWISCOUNTYSPORTS.COM The Chronicle's 2018 Baseball/Softball Preview W.F. West and PWV Are Locked, Loaded and Ready to Repeat C H A M P I O N S H I P S E A S O N

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Page 1: N W.F. West and PWV Are Locked, Loaded and Ready to Repeat€¦ · sophomore Britney Patrick hit a whop-ping .653 last season. The only game they lost last season was a nonleaguer

LEWISCOUNTYSPORTS.COM The Chronicle's 2018 Baseball/Softball Preview

W.F. West and PWV Are Locked, Loaded and Ready to Repeat

CHAMPIONSHIP

SEASON

Page 2: N W.F. West and PWV Are Locked, Loaded and Ready to Repeat€¦ · sophomore Britney Patrick hit a whop-ping .653 last season. The only game they lost last season was a nonleaguer

2 • Prep Baseball / Fastpitch • The Chronicle, Centralia/Chehalis, Wash. Thursday, March 22, 2018

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[email protected]

Look, football season’s great. We’ve usually got a few good teams and some-one makes a deep run in the postseason. And basketball season’s always a blast, especially this past season — who would have predicted not one but two Chehalis teams playing for a gold ball in Yakima? But if there’s one time of year when Lewis County gets to puff its collective chest out, it’s spring. The Twin Cities and the surrounding areas do stick-and-ball sports like no one else. How can you measure this? It’s sim-ple. I moved to the sports desk in late 2008, making the spring of 2009 my first baseball/softball season. Since then, Lewis County’s won 14 state baseball or softball titles — nine softball champion-ships and five baseball titles. The only year we haven’t had a state champion in that span was 2014, when both Napavine’s baseball and softball teams finished second. Compare that to, say, basketball sea-son. We’ve had 11 teams play for title since then, with five champions — Mor-ton-White Pass’ back-to-back boys title teams in 2014 and 2015, Pe Ell’s boys title team in 2010, and W.F. West’s girls championship teams this year and back in 2014. That’s not a bad run, by any

means, but when it comes to the big tro-phies, spring is king in Lewis County. Will 2018 be any different? It certain-ly doesn’t look like it. It starts out in West Lewis County, where Ken Olson’s Pe Ell-Willapa Valley team is reloaded for another run at the state championship. The Titans boast a roster with only two seniors, but should have absolutely no trouble putting up runs this year. Sisters Kamryn and Ka-tie Adkins lead the pitching staff, and

2018 Baseball/Softball Preview: Spring is Lewis County’s Title Season

What's InsideC2BL Baseball 4-5C2BL Softball 6-7EvCo Baseball 8-9EvCo Softball 10-111A Baseball 121A Softball 13

FILE PHOTO / The Chronicle

From left, W.F. West's Olivia Dean, Caitlyn Reyn-

olds, Paetynn Aselton (18), Ashlee Vadala, Kindra

Davis (3) and Lexie Strasser celebrate winning the

State 2A softball championship last May in Selah.

Page 3: N W.F. West and PWV Are Locked, Loaded and Ready to Repeat€¦ · sophomore Britney Patrick hit a whop-ping .653 last season. The only game they lost last season was a nonleaguer

Prep Baseball / Fastpitch • The Chronicle, Centralia/Chehalis, Wash. Thursday, March 22, 2018 • 3

sophomore Britney Patrick hit a whop-ping .653 last season. The only game they lost last season was a nonleaguer to Montesano — a club that went on to win its own state championship a few weeks later. Not that the Titans have an easy road ahead. The Central 2B League is, with-out question, the SEC of the 2B soft-ball scene, winning every state cham-pionship since 2008 and all but one since 2002. Napavine, last year’s state runner-up, returns a wealth of talent; Adna welcomes in a new coach but an old name in former Centralia College baseball coach Bruce Pocklington; and Morton-White Pass and Onalaska are both young teams on the rise. Throw in a tough Ocosta team coming out of the Pacific 2B League, and District 4 should be as tough as ever once action opens at the Gateway Sports Complex on Memo-rial Day weekend. Speaking of softball, W.F. West is back in action at Recreation Park and trying to win its third state champion-ship in four years. Sure, the Bearcats graduated star pitcher Lexie Strasser — who was named the Great Northwest Athletic Conference’s Pitcher of the Week for two wins last week in the circle for Central Washington University. And sure, goofball head coach Mike Keen re-tired after 15 years and three champion-ships. But the Bearcats bring back EvCo co-Offensive MVPs Kindra Davis and Olivia Dean, pitcher Ashlee Vadala and a stocked cupboard of young talent, as well as the confidence that comes when you haven’t lost a league game in half a de-cade. First-year coach Caty Lieseke and her team aren’t about to let that streak end without a good fight and a flurry of extra-base hits. Meanwhile, a few blocks from Rec-reation Park, the Bearcat baseball team has put together one of the most im-pressive collections of arms in the state. Tyson Guerrero, last year’s EvCo MVP, leads off the pitching rotation, while Brandon White — a 6-foot-8 righthand-er — completes a duo of Washington State University-bound hurlers. Throw in Lower Columbia College-bound Da-kota Hawkins, who’s been in the start-ing lineup and pitching in big games since his freshman year, and tough ju-

nior lefty Brock Jones — not to mention senior Gabe O’Neil and Daniel Fager-ness, who made a splash in last year’s District 4 championship game — and the crimson-and-grey bullpen is built for a long playoff run. And after finish-ing second to Ellensburg last year, it’s safe to say they know how to get back to County Stadium in Yakima. In the 2B ranks, however, the local standouts face a tough test on their own turf. Wahkiakum, which took third last year, brings back a quartet of standouts in brothers Luke and Zach Brown, James Anderson and Terris Record — all of whom can pitch and swing the bat. Af-ter back-to-back state titles by the Cen-tral 2B League in 2015 and 2016 (won by Adna and Toledo, respectively), Lewis County’s top 2B baseball clubs might have to knock off the only team in Wah-kiakum County to get back in the cham-pionship game.

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FILE PHOTO / The Chronicle

Tyson Guerrero, center, walks off the field at the

end of an inning during the State 2A semifinals

last May at Yakima County Stadium. The Bearcats

will try to return to the state championship game

this spring, with Guerrero, last year's EvCo MVP,

leading the way.

PreviewContinued from page 2

Page 4: N W.F. West and PWV Are Locked, Loaded and Ready to Repeat€¦ · sophomore Britney Patrick hit a whop-ping .653 last season. The only game they lost last season was a nonleaguer

4 • Prep Baseball / Fastpitch • The Chronicle, Centralia/Chehalis, Wash. Thursday, March 22, 2018

CENTRAL 2B LEAGUE — baseball

By Matt Baide

[email protected]

The Central 2B League is always strong in baseball, and this season shouldn’t be any different, although the playing field may be more level this year than it has in previous seasons. Last season was the first time since 2012 that a Central 2B League team wasn’t in the state championship. Napavine and Wahkiakum were both in the semifinals, but both lost and met in the third place game, won by the Mules 14-8. The Tigers are hoping to get back to the state playoffs once again, but it won’t be easy. Napavine lost seniors Mac Fagerness, Mason Butler, Sam Fagerness and Wyatt Stanley, all of whom played a significant role in the fourth-place finish last season. “Real tough, those are guys that pretty much started every game of their high school career. We didn’t have a lot of depth last year,” Napavine coach Brian Demarest said. “We replace them with freshman and sophomores that haven’t had a lot of playing time. We’ll go through some growing pains, but I think we’ll be OK when it all kind of shakes out.” The team does have some young players coming up that will be hoping to fill the void in freshman Levi Gates and Laythan Demarest and sophomore Landon Dahl. “We expect big things from our young kids,” Demarest said. “They’ve played a lot of baseball and been on sum-mer teams since they were 9 years old.” The team Napavine beat to get to Ed Wheeler Field for the semifinals was ri-val Adna. Adna lost some key players in-cluding Spencer Burdick and Isaac Ingle, but has plenty of experience coming back in Cody Young, Sawyer Burdick, Conner Weed, Elmer Loose and Cole Fay. “We have a team that is interesting because there’s a lot of depth and there’s a lot of kids sharing in the leadership,” Adna coach Jon Rooklidge said. “...We’ve just got a nice group of kids that like each other and get along and they work hard. We hope that offsets for the kids that we’ve graduated.” Adna finished third in the league last

season with a 13-3 league record and de-feated Kalama in the opening game of regionals before falling to Napavine in the regional final in Adna. “I think our kids expect to win. We were right there,” Rooklidge said. “Base-ball is a game, it can just go any way. It’s hard at the point when you get to the re-gionals. Everybody is a good team.” The most recent C2BL team to win the state title was the Toledo Indians in 2016. Toledo has some players that have played a lot of baseball including Gan-non Madill and Cody Towns. The Indians brought back Conner Vermilyea, a member of the 2016 state championship team, as an assistant coach to bring some championship experience to the coaching staff. The Indians claimed the final spot into the district tournament before being eliminated by Wahkiakum in a 1-0 game. Toledo has a lot of youth that will be looking to prove themselves against a tough league schedule.

The team Toledo faced in that 2016 state championship was Pe Ell-Willapa Valley. There are some players from that team including Cub Bair and Frank Roonsburg. The Titans also have experi-ence coming back with Keyton Barnum, Tyson Nissell, Ryon Ashley, Donnie Ward, Max Smith and Luke Gerow. The Titans finished seventh in league

and made it to regionals last season be-fore being eliminated by Tri-Cities Prep. Missing the district championship by one game last season was the Winlock Cardinals. Winlock graduated several seniors last season but does bring back some experience in Tyler Cook, Anthony

Central 2B League Teams Reload for 2018 Season

FILE PHOTO / The Chronicle

Terris Record (99) is one of four starting pitchers back for Wahkiakum, the favorite to win this year's Central 2B League title.

please see C2BL, page 5

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Page 5: N W.F. West and PWV Are Locked, Loaded and Ready to Repeat€¦ · sophomore Britney Patrick hit a whop-ping .653 last season. The only game they lost last season was a nonleaguer

Prep Baseball / Fastpitch • The Chronicle, Centralia/Chehalis, Wash. Thursday, March 22, 2018 • 5

Clevenger, Coleson Richendollar and Na-than Suhbier. Jordan Nailon is now the head coach for the Cardinals after being an assistant to Scott Weinert the last two seasons. Nailon is hoping to cultivate the youth on the team to help the Cardinals succeed this season as well as into the future. There were three C2BL teams that finished at the bottom of the league last season that will be looking to climb the ladder in league this season. Onalaska finished 10th in the league, but has a lot of optimism coming into this season. The Loggers have some players that got a lot of experience as underclassmen, including AJ Volk, Cody Cooper, Ash-ton Haight, Mathew Kurzeika and Kyle Hamilton. Mossyrock finished 11th last season, winning just two games during league play. The Vikings have experienced players com-ing back including Kord Senter, Nick Fried, Aaron King, Evan Gootgeld, JC Workman, Rem Stanley and Brennan Shriver.The Vikings hope the experience the squad brings back can help lift them into a district playoff spot this season. “This will be a learning process for us. It’s all about getting better,” Mossyr-ock coach Jay Henderson said. “we faced two good teams to start the season. Our league is very unforgiving, there is a rea-son we always have a team in the final.” Morton-White Pass had a down sea-son last year, but has reason to excited about this season. The Timberwolves ex-perienced players include Kaleb Rashoff, Kade Gillispie, Dylan Pelletier and

Gavyn Higdon. There will be tough competition for these teams from the rest of the league. Wahkiakum finished third last season and returns four solid pitchers in broth-ers Luke and Zach Brown, Terris Record and James Anderson. Toutle Lake finished fourth in the league last season and returns one of the best pitchers in the league in Zach Vetter. Kalama and Rainier finished fifth and sixth respectively last season and both look primed for another run in the district tournament and berth in the state playoffs. With the amount of pitching, bats and experience in the C2BL this season, it’s hard to imagine the league being shut out from the state championship game for a second straight season.

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CENTRAL 2B LEAGUE — baseball

PRESEASON POLL

1. Wahkiakum2. Toutle Lake3. Adna4. Kalama5. Napavine6. Rainier7. Pe Ell-Willapa Valley8. Onalaska9. Toledo10. Mossyrock11. Winlock12. Morton-White Pass

Adna Pirates

COACH: Jon Rooklidge (fourth)

2017: 17-6 (lost in state quarterfinals)

RETURNING STARTERS: Sawyer Burdick

(Jr., P/IF), Conner Weed (Sr., P/SS), Cody

Young (Sr., OF), Chance Fay (Jr., IF), Elmer

Loose (Jr., OF), Camden Ryan (Jr., P/IF)

Morton-White Pass Timberwolves

COACH: Lee Metcalf (first)

2017: 4-14

RETURNING STARTERS: Kaleb Rashoff

(Jr., P/IF), Kade Gillispie (Sr., P/IF), Dylan

Pelletier (Jr., OF), Gavyn Higdon (Jr., OF/C),

Diego Soto (Jr., P/IF)

Mossyrock Vikings

COACH: Jay Henderson (second)

2017: 2-15

RETURNING STARTERS: Kord Senter (Sr.,

C), Nick Fried (Jr., IF), Aaron King (Jr., IF),

Evan Gootgeld (So., P), JC Workman (So.,

IF/OF), Rem Stanley (Sr., P), Brennan Shriver

(Jr., P/IF)

Napavine Tigers

COACH: Brian Demarest (fourth)

2017: 19-5 (fourth in state)

RETURNING STARTERS: Garret Shannon

(Sr., P/OF), Seth Butler (Jr., IF), Dawson

Stanley (Jr., C), Ben Woodrum (Sr., P/1B)

Onalaska Loggers

COACH: Rocky Stanley (third)

2017: 5-12

RETURNING STARTERS: AJ Volk (Jr., P/IF),

Cody Cooper (Jr., P/IF/OF), Ashton Haight

(So., P/C), Matt Kurzeika (Jr., P/IF), Kyle

Hamilton (Jr., OF)

Pe Ell-Willapa Valley

COACH: Kelly Barnum (second)

2017: 13-15 (lost in regionals)

RETURNING STARTERS: Cub Bair (Sr., P/C),

Keyton Barnum (Sr., IF/OF), Tyson Nissell

(Sr., OF), Ryon Ashley (Sr., IF/C), Donnie

Ward (Jr., IF/P), Frank Roonsburg (Jr., SS),

Max Smith (So, IF), Luke Gerow (So, 1B)

Toledo Indians

COACH: Jeff Davis (fourth)

2017: 6-14 (lost in districts)

RETURNING STARTERS: Gannon Madill

(Sr., IF), Kyle Bauter (Sr., P/IF), Cody Towns

(Sr., DH), Tommy Kinsman (Sr., IF), Dawson

Marcil (Sr., IF/OF)

Winlock Cardinals

COACH: Jordan Nailon (first)

2017: 6-12

RETURNING STARTERS: Tyler Cook (Sr., P/

IF), Anthony Clevenger (Jr., IF/P), Coleson

Richendollar (So., P/IF), Nathan Suhrbier

(So., OF)

C2BLContinued from page 4

FILE PHOTO / The Chronicle

Sawyer Burdick is one of

a handful of starters back

in the lineup for Adna,

which is picked to finish

near the top of C2BL

standings.

Page 6: N W.F. West and PWV Are Locked, Loaded and Ready to Repeat€¦ · sophomore Britney Patrick hit a whop-ping .653 last season. The only game they lost last season was a nonleaguer

6 • Prep Baseball / Fastpitch • The Chronicle, Centralia/Chehalis, Wash. Thursday, March 22, 2018

By Matt Baide

[email protected]

It was another Central 2B League state championship matchup last season, as Pe Ell-Willapa defeated Napavine 10-1 to win the title and lift the gold glove tro-phy. With the amount of talent returning for not only Napavine and Pe Ell-Willapa Valley, but across the Central 2B League, it wouldn’t be a shock if two District 4 teams ended up playing for a state title once again — which would mark the fifth straight year two C2BL teams faced off for the gold glove. The Titans are expected to make another run at the title. PWV lost a few key players, including slugging pitcher Dakota Brooks (now playing at Centra-lia College) and Abby Hodel, but the Ti-tans bring back a lot of experience from the state championship team, including sophomores Britney Patrick, Katelyn McGough and Katie Adkins, and juniors Kamryn Adkins and Grace Hodel. “From my perspective, I like our team a lot. I think they could do it again. We’ve got a lot of good kids back,” PWV coach Ken Olson said. “Yes, Dakota is gone, Railey (Smith) and Abby are gone. We added some good kids, we’re going to have two solid throwers in the two Ad-

kins girls. … It’s tough to repeat and all that stuff. We finally talked about it; it’s a long ways off. There’s good talent here in our league.” PWV will have senior Sidney Pol-lard — who has signed to play softball at Montana State University in the fall — leading a young core that won the league, district and state titles last year. Also hoping to be back in the state championship game is Napavine. The Tigers finished fourth in the C2BL last season, but made a run to the district and state championship games, only to lose to PWV in both games. “Honestly, we’ve got to get healthy first. We have some kids that are out still. We’ve got a long ways to go before where were anywhere near last year,” Napavine

coach Chad Williams said. “We’ve got to

get some practices in. Our goal is to con-

tinue to improve week by week, as com-

pared to where we ended. We’ve got to

start somewhere.”

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CENTRAL 2B LEAGUE — softball

PRESEASON POLL

1. Pe Ell-Willapa Valley2. Napavine3. Adna4. Onalaska5. Morton-White Pass6. Toutle Lake7. Toledo8. Kalama9. Winlock10. Mossyrock11. Rainier12. Wahkiakum

Titans Try to Defend State Title Against Tough C2BL Competition

FILE PHOTO / The Chronicle

Pe Ell-Willapa Valley celebrates with the gold glove trophy after defeating Napavine in the 2017 State 2B tournament championship game at Gateway

Sports Complex in Yakima. The Titans will look to defend their league, district and state titles in 2018.

please see C2BL, page 7

Page 7: N W.F. West and PWV Are Locked, Loaded and Ready to Repeat€¦ · sophomore Britney Patrick hit a whop-ping .653 last season. The only game they lost last season was a nonleaguer

Prep Baseball / Fastpitch • The Chronicle, Centralia/Chehalis, Wash. Thursday, March 22, 2018 • 7

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Adna Pirates

COACH: Bruce Pocklington (first)

2017: 14-6 (lost in state)

RETURNING STARTERS: Ruby Bower (Jr.,

OF), Darian Humphrey (Sr., IF), Skye Snow

(So., P/IF), Jenikka Poppe (Sr., P/IF), Tyas

Pannette (So., IF/OF)

Morton-White Pass Timberwolves

COACH: Rob Hazen (second)

2017: 10-15 (lost in districts)

RETURNING STARTERS: Taylor Nilius (Jr.,

SS), Taylor Hazen (Jr., IF), Hannah Smathers

(Jr., C)

Mossyrock Vikings

COACH: Melanie Hadaller (first)

2017: N/A (Mossyrock did not field a

team)

RETURNING STARTERS: N/A

Napavine Tigers

COACH: Chad Williams (third)

2017: 19-8 (second in state)

RETURNING STARTERS: Maddie Thomp-

son (Sr., SS), Ada Williams (Jr., P), Abbi Mu-

sic (Sr., P), Solana Sanchez (Sr., IF), Cortney

Oster (Sr., C), Kaila Larson (Sr., OF), Taylor

Denault (Sr., OF)

Onalaska Loggers

COACH: Ken Ulery (sixth)

2017: 11-12 (lost in districts)

RETURNING STARTERS: Alicia Vint (Sr., SS), Amy Henderson (Jr., P/IF), Adalee Sabin (Jr., OF), Ashley Pannkuk (Jr., IF/OF), Olivia Mitten (Jr., IF/OF), Karson Morris (Sr., OF), Haylie Howard (Jr., IF)

Pe Ell-Willapa Valley Titans

COACH: Ken Olson (fourth)

2017: 25-1 (state champs)

RETURNING STARTERS: Sid Pollard (Sr., SS), Kamryn Adkins (Jr., P), Britney Patrick (So., IF), Grace Hodel (Jr., C), Katie Adkins (So., P/IF), Katelyn McGough (So., IF/OF)

Toledo Indians

COACH: Ashlee Gieske (first)

2017: 11-14 (lost in districts)

RETURNING STARTERS: Kyleigh Holmes (Jr., P/IF), Brooke Beecroft (Jr., OF), Jessica Hull (So., P/IF), Aryanna Murphy (So., C), Andrea Jones (So., OF)

Winlock Cardinals

COACH: Chantel Nelson (second)

2017: 5-17 (lost in districts)

RETURNING STARTERS: Jenna Jones (Jr., P), Cheleena Squibb (Jr., C), Sabrena Barra-gan (So., IF), Karlie Jones (So., SS), Madison Lofberg (Jr., IF/OF)

Napavine returns seniors Abbi Mu-sic, Maddie Thompson and Ada Wil-liams to lead a team that gained a lot of experience last year, with Music and Williams handling the pitching duties. With other returners including Solana Sanchez, Courtney Oster, Kaiya Larson and Taylor Denault, the Tigers hope to capture the titles that eluded them last season. “As long as we’re improving each and every week, they’re going to be happy with the results,” Williams said. “We want to make it to state and make a little noise. That would be a big goal.” There will be plenty of teams in the Central 2B League that will be out to de-throne PWV and Napavine. The Adna Pirates have a new coach in Bruce Pocklington after losing back to back games at state last year and failing to place for the first time since 2014. The Pirates return senior pitcher Je-nikka Poppe and infielder Darian Hum-phrey, along with juniors Emily Sliva and Ruby Bower, after finishing third in the C2BL last year. Morton-White Pass is a team to watch out for in the C2BL. The Timber-wolves placed sixth in the league stand-

ings last season and came up just short in districts, falling to Adna for the final spot into the state tournament. “We’ve got a lot of work to do. We’re going to have to hit the ball to stay in game,” MWP coach Rob Hazen said. “We have two freshman pitchers and a new outfield. We’re going to have to hit the ball and make plays for our pitchers.” Hazen noted juniors Taylor Nilius, Taylor Hazen, Sydney Brooks and Han-nah Smathers have emerged as leaders on the team. MWP will try to get back to the state tournament for the first time since 2015. Another team on its way up is Onalaska. The Lady Loggers finished fifth in league last season but lost to Morton-White Pass in a loser-out game in the district tournament. Senior Alicia Vint signed with Doane University to play next season and she will help lead an Onalaska squad with plenty of talent, including seniors Kar-son Morris and juniors Amy Henderson, Adalee Sabin, Haylie Howard, Olivia Miten and Ashley Pannkuk. Toledo will try to move up in the C2BL standings after a seventh place fin-ish last season. The Indians return some key players from last season including seniors Meeghan Peters, Emily Tyner and Shy-Anne Hill. Also hoping to climb the standings this season is Winlock. The Cardinals

finished 5-17 last year and eighth in the C2BL. The team graduated two seniors last season in Katlyn Dunlap and Han-nah Randall and brings back no seniors this season. Winlock does return some experi-

enced players in juniors Madison Lof-berg, Jenna Jones, Joanna Barragan, Cheleena Squibb and Lillian Gilman. After not having a team last season, the Mossyrock Vikings are back in the

C2BLContinued from page 6

FILE PHOTO / The Chronicle

Abbi Music, a four-year starter, returns to the pitching circle for Napavine this season.

please see C2BL, page 14

Page 8: N W.F. West and PWV Are Locked, Loaded and Ready to Repeat€¦ · sophomore Britney Patrick hit a whop-ping .653 last season. The only game they lost last season was a nonleaguer

8 • Prep Baseball / Fastpitch • The Chronicle, Centralia/Chehalis, Wash. Thursday, March 22, 2018

EVERGREEN 2A CONFERENCE — baseball

FILE PHOTO / The Chronicle

Tyson Guerrero, last year's Evergreen 2A Conference MVP, is just one of two pitchers on W.F. West's staff this year to have signed to pitch for Washington

State University next season.

By Aaron VanTuyl

[email protected]

Everyone in the Evergreen 2A Con-ference is chasing the Bearcats, and it’s no mystery as to why: W.F. West sports two Washington State University-bound pitchers in Tyson Guerrero and Brandon White, and that’s just the tip of the crim-son-and-grey iceberg. “It starts and ends with them,” Cen-tralia coach Rex Ashmore said. “They not only have dominant pitching, but they’re deep in pitching, and they’ve got kids that just compete every day, and that have a wealth of experience at the varsity level.” The Bearcats are coming off a sea-son in which they went 22-3 and lost the State 2A championship game to Ellens-burg. With seven seniors on the roster, they’re naturally hungry to get back to Yakima — but don’t expect to simply walk through the season. “We haven’t set too lofty of goals. We’ve always been a ‘one thing at a time’ (team),” Bearcat coach Bryan Bullock said. “Our first goal is just going to be to get to the state tournament, if we’re for-tunate enough to get to that weekend of regionals. You’ve got to get a lot of breaks. “But I think the kids know,” he add-ed. “They feel like they left something out there last year, and I think they really want to get there.” The Bearcats certainly didn’t open the season at full strength. Guerrero, the reigning EvCo MVP, missed the open-ing doubleheader at Anacortes to take the SATs; White, a 6-foot-8 righthander, threw less than two innings on Satur-day, exactly a week after starring on the Bearcats’ state finalist basketball team; outfielder Camden Bull’s return date from a broken wrist is still up in the air; and Dakota Hawkins, a starting pitcher for four years and perennial All-League pick, is working his way back into the lineup after an ACL injury suffered dur-ing football season. “I think I like a lot of our pieces, and I like a lot of our talent and ability,” Bull-ock said. “As we’ve shown this weekend, the challenge is going to be getting all the pieces and talent to play together as a team and compete together. It’s going to

be a work in progress.” Daniel Fagerness, a righthanded ju-nior, is expected to be the Bearcats’ third starter, with junior lefty Brock Jones — kept off the mound for most of last season with a back injury — and senior righty Gabe O’Neil coming out of the bullpen. “They’ve really worked hard on arm strength, and molding their craft,” Bull-ock said. “But by far, it’s the deepest, when healthy, pitching staff for a high school team that I’ve been a part of.”

Guerrero, a standout center fielder, is back at the top of the lineup, with senior first baseman Nole Wollan, Jones and, eventually, Hawkins providing pop in the heart of the order. Sophomore Josiah Johnson will start the season at shortstop, and classmate Leandre Gaines moves into the lineup at third base. “Those are two kids that have tal-ent, and they definitely have the ability,” Bullock said, “but they’re going to have to step up and prove it at the varsity level

for the first time.” Junior Lane Douglass and freshman Drew Reynolds are competing for the starting catcher spot. “We’ve got a nice core coming back, so the expectations are high, but hope-fully we’re going to rise up to those ex-pectations this year,” Bullock said. “I think we found out last weekend it’s not going to happen just because we show up.” Centralia’s strength this year is ex-

Deep Rotation Makes Bearcats the EvCo Favorite

please see EVCO, page 9

Page 9: N W.F. West and PWV Are Locked, Loaded and Ready to Repeat€¦ · sophomore Britney Patrick hit a whop-ping .653 last season. The only game they lost last season was a nonleaguer

Prep Baseball / Fastpitch • The Chronicle, Centralia/Chehalis, Wash. Thursday, March 22, 2018 • 9

EVERGREEN 2A CONFERENCE — baseball

Centralia Tigers

COACH: Rex Ashmore (fifth)

2017: 13-12 (lost in districts)

RETURNING STARTERS: Jerod Frias (Sr., P/IF), Broc Selstrom (Sr., P/1B), Kolby Sharp (Sr., 2B), Nick Stulken (Sr., DH)

W.F. West Bearcats

COACH: Bryan Bullock (fourth)

2017: 22-3 (second in state)

RETURNING STARTERS: Nole Wollan (Sr., 1B), Tyson Guerrero (Sr., P/OF), Bran-don White (Sr., P), Dakota Hawkins (Sr., P/IF), Camden Bull (Sr., OF), Max Miller (Sr., OF), Cyrus Bunker (Jr., IF), Brock Jones (Jr., P/OF)

Rochester Warriors

COACH: Brad Quarnstrom (third)

2017: 2-14

RETURNING STARTERS: Rylee Sommer (Sr., OF); Joel McCarthy (Sr., 2B); Cole Wintrip (Sr., P/OF); Ethan Worden (Sr., P/OF); Bryce Lollar (Jr., 3B)

PRESEASON POLL

1. W.F. West2. Black Hills3. Tumwater4. Centralia5. Rochester6. Aberdeen

EvCoContinued from page 9

pected to be pitching, with a bevy of right arms from which to choose. Senior Broc Selstrom returns and should be joined at the top of the rota-tion by sophomore Jeremy Wood. Se-niors Jerod Frias and Mason Titus, and sophomores Derek Beairsto and Jackson Hull, will also see plenty of time on the mound. “Those are the guys that we envision, but it’s a long season, and there are some

young kids that are itching to get up with the varsity as well,” Ashmore said. “It’ll be real interesting to see how it plays out as the year goes. Wood, Beairsto and Hull are three sophomores we have a lot of confidence in, and they’re pretty con-fident kids.” The Tigers, though, don’t have a lot of varsity innings under their belt. Frias played catcher last year, but Kolby Sharp (second base) and Nick Stulken (desig-nated hitter) are the only other returning starters. “We’re not a young team, but we defi-nitely lack varsity experience,” Ashmore said. “We’ve got a lot of young kids that

are going to push for some playing time, and we’re not one to sit around and wait just because our seniors are seniors.” Wood, Sharp, Frias, Selstrom and Colby Steele will make up the heart of the lineup, while Wood will move into the starting shortstop role when he’s not on the mound. Rochester is expected to improve on last year’s rain-stunted 2-14 season, with senior pitchers Cole Wintrip and Ethan Worden anchoring the rotation. Lefty Keegan Goldrick and Bryce Lollar, both juniors, join the rotation, and Bodey Smith should see time on the mound, coach Brad Quarnstrom said.

“It’s a strength, just from an experi-ence standpoint,” Quarnstrom said of his pitching staff. “I think this year we’re going to be deeper on the mound. We have guys that can throw strikes consis-tently.” Sophomore shortstop Jared Winters moves into the leadoff role, and catcher Tyler Soderback — who homered in the Warriors’ season-opening win over Tenino — adds a big bat to the lineup after missing last year with an injury. Smith, another sophomore, will be the

FILE PHOTO / The Chronicle

Jeremy Wood, a sophomore, will be one of Centralia's top pitchers this season.

please see EVCO, page 14

Page 10: N W.F. West and PWV Are Locked, Loaded and Ready to Repeat€¦ · sophomore Britney Patrick hit a whop-ping .653 last season. The only game they lost last season was a nonleaguer

10 • Prep Baseball / Fastpitch • The Chronicle, Centralia/Chehalis, Wash. Thursday, March 22, 2018

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EVERGREEN 2A CONFERENCE — softball

FILE PHOTO / The Chronicle

From left, Kindra Davis, Olivia Dean and Ashlee Vadala give defending State 2A champion W.F. West a talented senior core.

By Aaron VanTuyl

[email protected]

At this point it’s more of a tradition than prediction. W.F. West, once again, is the favorite in the Evergreen 2A Conference, and for good reason: The Bearcats have won two of the last three State 2A titles, been to state 14 straight years, won six straight District 4 championships, and haven’t lost a league game since 2013. For reference, that means this year’s senior class was in seventh grade the last time the Bearcats came up on the short end of an EvCo softball game. “I think that’s all these kids know, and that’s been interesting, as a coach, stepping into that,” first-year Bearcat head coach Caty Lieseke said. “They don’t know what it’s like to lose league (games), and they don’t know what it’s like to lose in districts. I love that they’re ambitious, and that’s what they want out of this season.” And, despite losing a handful of start-ers from last year’s championship team to graduation, Lieseke — the Bearcats’ JV coach last year, who takes over the head role from Mike Keen — isn’t exactly starting from scratch. EvCo co-Offensive MVPs Kindra Davis and Olivia Dean are back to lead the batting order; Davis, a third-baseman headed for Boise State, hit .507 with 30 RBIs and seven homers last year, while Dean, a shortstop, hit .438 with 16 RBIs and 13 stolen bases. Ashlee Vadala, a senior pitcher and first baseman, hit .463 with 31 RBIs last year and made the All-League first team, and sophomore catcher Paetynn Lopez was an All-League pick with a .432 aver-age and 28 RBIs. “These girls have been playing to-gether since they were young. They work like they play together year round, even though they don’t,” Lieseke said. “It’s really fun to step into the role as head coach, just because these kids know what they’re doing.”

Vadala, a lefthander, posted a 4-1 re-cord last year, but didn’t see as much time in the circle as she did as a sophomore thanks to a dominating run from Lexie Strasser — who’s now a starting pitcher at Central Washington University. Sophomores Annika Waring and Jas-mine Gallea round out the varsity pitch-ing staff.“Annika was one that was ready to go at any point last year. She’s a workhorse. She’ll do anything you ask, and she’ll do it well,” Lieseke said. “Jasmine threw a lot

No Surprise: Defending State Champ Bearcats the Pick in EvCo

please see EVCO, page 11

Page 11: N W.F. West and PWV Are Locked, Loaded and Ready to Repeat€¦ · sophomore Britney Patrick hit a whop-ping .653 last season. The only game they lost last season was a nonleaguer

Prep Baseball / Fastpitch • The Chronicle, Centralia/Chehalis, Wash. Thursday, March 22, 2018 • 11

EVERGREEN 2A CONFERENCE — softball

Rochester Warriors

COACH: Dave Montgomery

2017: 12-11

RETURNING STARTERS: Emily Haury (Jr., OF), Lexie Trombley (So., 1B), Hunter Hahn (Sr., SS), Delaney Glazer (Jr., P/IF), Kiah Horger (Jr., OF), Bella Phelps (Sr., C)

W.F. West Bearcats

COACH: Caty Lieseke

2017: 22-3 (state champions)

RETURNING STARTERS: Olivia Dean (Sr., SS); Lopez (So., C), Kindra Davis (Sr., 3B), Ashlee Vadala (P/1B)

Centralia Tigers

COACH: Mike McDonald (fourth)

2017: 4-13

RETURNING STARTERS: Mckenna Smith (Sr., 3B), Courtney Leifer Carlson (Sr., CF), Hannah Porter (Jr., C), Tayler Bailey (Sr., P/1B), Tyler Jorgenson (Sr., 2B/OF), Sophie Duffy (So., P/IF/OF), Kylie Sharp (So., SS)

Preseason Poll

1. W.F. West2. Tumwater3. Rochester4. Centralia5. Black Hills6. Aberdeen

FILE PHOTO / The Chronicle

Sophie Duffy heads up Centralia's pitching staff this season.

on JV last year as well. She takes her job very seriously in the circle.” Sophomore Ashlyn Whalen, mean-while, moves into the starting role at second base and batted cleanup in the Bearcats’ season-opener. Ava Fugate, No-elle Roberts, Paytton Crawford, Taylor Barker and Kenna Brinson are all under-classmen competing for starting spots in the outfield early in the season. Rochester, with new coach Dave Montgomery, appears to be on the up-swing after two season-opening shutouts. Their strength, naturally, is in the circle; junior Delaney Glazer and senior Hunter Hahn were both All-League picks last year, and freshman Liz Phelps could step in in a pinch, Montgomery said.“I feel like I’ve got two legit pitchers in Delaney and Hunter, and that’s super exciting,” Montgomery said. “Pitching is going to be a strong suit, and I love hav-ing Bella Phelps behind the plate.” Phelps, a veteran catcher, led the War-riors with nine homers and a .479 aver-age last year to earn an All-League nod. She’ll be in the heart of the order, with Hahn (.400 average) batting leadoff and playing shortstop when she’s not pitching and Glazer (.370) batting second. Sophomore infielder Lexie Trombley and junior outfielder Emily Haury have also looked promising at the plate, Mont-gomery added. Montgomery, a Rochester teacher and an assistant coach at Capital last year, hopes to build a program from the ground up. “We’re trying to build that unity from JV to varsity, and trying to reach out to other programs, too,” he said. “We’re re-ally trying to build community teams, where it’s dad-coach or other people coming in, and trying to get them as lit-tle kids, and then feed into our program. … It’s one of the things I’m super excited about.” Centralia is hoping a wealth of re-turning starters can translate into more wins this season. All-League first-teamer McKenna Smith returns to the heart of the batting order after hitting .370 last season and playing shortstop. “She’s going to be a big part of the

lineup. Hopefully we can set the table and Mak can clean it up for us,” Tiger coach Mike McDonald said. “She did a great job last year doing it, and she’s a leader on the field, and hopefully a leader on the plate.” Sophomore Sophie Duffy looks like the Tigers’ starting pitcher early on, with senior Tayler Bailey playing first base and ready for relief work. “We’re looking for good stuff from Sophie this year,” McDonald said, “And Tayler’s ready to go, too.” Freshmen Courtney Spriggs joins the starting lineup in the outfield, where she’ll join returning starters Courtney Leifer Carlson and Tyler Jorgenson, a senior who last played as a sophomore. Junior Ashley Dozler and sophomore Alayna Miller will also see work in the outfield. Kylie Sharp, a sophomore, is also back in the starting lineup and moves to shortstop, while Hannah Porter returns at catcher. “The returning sophomores have improved a lot, and they’re spraying the ball around pretty well,” McDonald said. “Our returning kids, the seniors and ju-niors, have improved this year. … We’re hoping we can put some runs on the board.” Tumwater went 3-2 last year at the state tournament, finishing a game shy of a trophy, with a young team that featured just three seniors. The Thunderbirds wel-come new head coach Ashley Andrews and boast sophomore pitchers Savannah

Owen and Jaidyn Carpenter, along with All-League first-teamers Sawyer Vessey, Myiah Seaton and Katie Cunningham. Andrews, a 2008 Tumwater graduate, was a four-year starter at the University of Tennessee, then an assistant coach at the University of Washington and Tennessee’s Director of Softball Operations last year. “She’s going to put a good program together, no matter who she’s got out there,” Lieseke, who played with An-drews during her own prep days, said. Aberdeen returns slugging All-League catcher Reagan Glanz, but went just 3-13 last season. Black Hills will be led by senior center fielder Chantal Won, an All-League first-team pick last year when the Wolves went 6-10. All-League second-team shortstop Aly Gill also returns.

EvCoContinued from page 10

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Page 12: N W.F. West and PWV Are Locked, Loaded and Ready to Repeat€¦ · sophomore Britney Patrick hit a whop-ping .653 last season. The only game they lost last season was a nonleaguer

12 • Prep Baseball / Fastpitch • The Chronicle, Centralia/Chehalis, Wash. Thursday, March 22, 2018

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The Tenino Beavers are coming into the 2018 baseball season with plenty of confidence. Tenino finished last season 7-11 over-all and 6-6 in league to finish second be-hind Montesano. The Beavers lost to La Center fol-lowed by Elma in districts to end their season. Tenino was last in the state tour-nament in 2016, when the Beavers lost to Nooksack Valley 1-0 in the opening round following a run to the district title. Tenino returns a few players, includ-ing senior Miles Cannon, junior Jace Griffis and sophomore Logan Brewer. The team has some returning players, but lacks a lot of varsity playing experi-ence. “A lot of the guys coming back, they’ve started game but it has not been consistent throughout,” Tenino coach Conner Hogue said. “It isn’t deep, start-ing games here or there, depending on pitching situations. We’re a really young team as far as varsity experience. We have a lot of work to do.” The lack of experience is something the younger players have to adjust to quickly as the season progresses. “We got guys who need to get used to playing everyday, need to get used to pre-paring to start every game. They making sure they are prepared for the grind they are about to be on,” Hogue said. “We’ve got 12, 13 kids, so guys are going to be playing everyday, multiple pitchers. We lack experience, we’re going to have to learn quickly to adapt.” The Bulldogs were the only team from the Evergreen League to qualify for the state tournament, where they lost 5-0 to Overlake-Bear Creek in the opening round. Hoquiam finished second in state in 2016 but failed to make state last sea-son and will be hoping to build around some youth much like Tenino. The mound is going to be the tough-est position for Hogue to manage this season. With the small numbers of the team and the lack of varsity experience, the team will try to lean on their defense to help out the younger pitchers. “We just ask our guys who are cur-

rently our top 3, you’re going to stay out there and chew up some innings, not that you don’t put an emphasis on defense,” Hogue said. “We want to make sure they understand we don’t have pitchers who will be striking a bunch of guys out. What I don’t mind about that, it’s a great way to build camaraderie with a team. If things go awry ealy, we’re going to have to dig into the pitching arsenal.” Hogue believes the strength of the team is defense, but he’s hoping the team can develop at the plate to help take some pressure off of the defense. “Our situational hitting, our ability to execute bunts, that will become our strength. We’re always trying to develop those things,” Hogue said. “Situational hitting and understanding what you need to do to put the ball in play and be able to sneak away with 1 or 2 runs each inning, it’s really going to have to become our strength.” There are a few players that have emerged as leaders on the team. Hogue highlighted Karlton Hisaw and Tyrick Weyrauch as well as team captains Miles Cannon and Dalton Chambers. “The kids slowly starting to find their roles. They’re all really good friends and are building a strong foundation as a team,” Hogue said. “The willingness to fight for each other and that is going to get us further into the season. I’m seeing signs of us being able to do that.” After a tie against Eatonville and a tough loss against Rochester earlier in the season, Tenino has found its stride with a three game win streak and will hope to keep it going against a tough league schedule. The mentality of this team needs to be one game, one pitch at a time, ac-cording to Hogue, and Tenino should see some positive results. “Just compete every day, with this group especially. We’re going to compete every pitch, that is where they need to stay with their mentality all year,” Hogue said. “Whether we’re on defense, wheth-er we’re hitting, we need to build that toughness mentally. We’ll work through our mistakes and try to be perfect and keep working to compete every pitch.”

1A EVERGREEN LEAGUE — baseball

Tenino BeaversCOACH: Conner Hogue (fifth)

2017: 7-11 (Lost in districts)

RETURNING STARTERS: Miles Cannon (Sr., C/IF), Jace Griffis (Jr., IF/OF), Ryan Deoskey (Jr., IF/P), Logan Brewer (So., IF/P), Blake Gubbe (Jr., P/IF), Michael Born (So., OF), Cameron Heay (So., OF/C), Dalton Chambers (Jr., IF)

Preseason Poll

1. Montesano2. Tenino3. Hoquiam4. Forks5. Elma

Young Tenino Squad Hoping to Make Some Noise

RON QUINN / Quinn Sport Photo

Tenino's Logan Brewer (left) catches a fly ball as teammate Karlton Hisaw backs him up during a non-

league baseball game at North Mason early in the 2018 season.

Page 13: N W.F. West and PWV Are Locked, Loaded and Ready to Repeat€¦ · sophomore Britney Patrick hit a whop-ping .653 last season. The only game they lost last season was a nonleaguer

Prep Baseball / Fastpitch • The Chronicle, Centralia/Chehalis, Wash. Thursday, March 22, 2018 • 13

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1A EVERGREEN LEAGUE — softball

By Matt Baide

[email protected]

Tenino fastpitch has a lot of youth that will be looking to prove itself throughout the 2018 season. The Beavers finished 2-17 last season and lost both games in the district tour-nament to end their season. There is some confidence going into this season. Tenino’s pitcher from last season, Felicia Gubbe, has graduated, and freshman Cassie Cannon has stepped into the role of starting pitcher. At the plate, the team will hope to gain some hits from players like Bailey Green, Reegan Larson and Aurora Hall and figure out the situation at the plate as the season progresses. It will not be easy competing in the 1A Evergreen League this season. Montesano finished the season 24-3 and won the state championship 8-2 over La Center last May, and returns league MVP Samantha Stanfield, a standout pitcher and outfielder, to lead the team, along with All-League catcher Peyton Poler and All-League second-teamer Lindsay Pace. Hoquiam finished third in the league last season at 14-8 overall and placed third in the state tournament, and re-turns All-League first-team pitcher Eng-lish Hyde, along with All-League out-fielders ReyLynn Dunn and Maya Jump. Elma finished second in the league last year but missed out on a trip to state. The Eagles, who started the season 6-0, welcome back All-League pitcher Quin Mikel and All-League infielder Kali Rambo, both of whom are now sopho-mores. With the Beavers hoping to play on their new field at some point this season, there is reason to be excited for Tenino softball.

Tenino BeaversCOACH: KaTrina Haupert (third)

2017: 2-17 (Lost in districts)

Preseason Poll

1. Montesano2. Hoquiam3. Elma4. Tenino5. Forks

RON QUINN / Quinn Sport Photo

Tenino's Cassie Cannon pitches during a non-

league softball game at North Mason early in the

2018 season.

Tenino Filled With Youth in Tough 1A Evergreen League

Page 14: N W.F. West and PWV Are Locked, Loaded and Ready to Repeat€¦ · sophomore Britney Patrick hit a whop-ping .653 last season. The only game they lost last season was a nonleaguer

14 • Prep Baseball / Fastpitch • The Chronicle, Centralia/Chehalis, Wash. Thursday, March 22, 2018

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Warriors’ utility man. “I feel like we’ve improved a lot,” Quarnstrom said. “If nothing else, for whatever reason, this group has some-thing going for them in that they get along — and part of that has been due to the weather.” With last year’s rain, he said, his team only practiced outdoors three times all season; they’ve doubled that this year. The goal for the year, he added, is to make the postseason. “I think we’ve got a crew that we can do that with,” he said. “The kids are working hard, and believe in themselves, and believe in each other.” Black Hills returns All-League pitch-ers Kristian Knight and Ashton Perry, as well as All-League outfielders Ethan Loveless and Bryce Kincy, from last year’s 14-9 squad and is expected to be the Bearcats’ biggest challenger for the top spot. “They return quite a bit, and just the way they play the game — so fast, with-

out a care in the world — they’re defi-nitely a scary team,” Ashmore said. Tumwater brings back All-League outfielder Logan Hayes but will be working in mostly new pitchers, though

the T-Birds reportedly had a huge turn-out for baseball this year, and Aberdeen is working in new players but welcomes back athletic All-League catcher Kylan Touch.

EvCoContinued from page 9

FILE PHOTO / The Chronicle

Dakota Hawkins, a four-year starter, will be a key pitcher, middle infielder and heart-of-the-lineup hit-

ter for W.F. West this season.

Central 2B League softball picture. Mossyrock last qualified for the state tournament in 2011 as the VI-kings finished fourth. “I think we are in a rebuilding stage. Those young girls, they’ve all been playing together in youth ball,” Mossyrock coach Melanie Hadaller said. “Once we get going and get a few more years under our belt, we’re going to be a great team. I think it’s going to be a struggle at the begin-ning, but once they get some experi-ence, they’re going to do a lot better.” Mossyrock is a young team but does have senior Macie Rockwood on the team to help lead the Lady Vikings on the diamond. Along with Toutle Lake and Ka-lama, the Central 2B League will be a tough schedule for teams once again and two will hope to end their season in Yakima competing for a state championship.

C2BLContinued from page 7

Page 15: N W.F. West and PWV Are Locked, Loaded and Ready to Repeat€¦ · sophomore Britney Patrick hit a whop-ping .653 last season. The only game they lost last season was a nonleaguer

Prep Baseball / Fastpitch • The Chronicle, Centralia/Chehalis, Wash. Thursday, March 22, 2018 • 15

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Page 16: N W.F. West and PWV Are Locked, Loaded and Ready to Repeat€¦ · sophomore Britney Patrick hit a whop-ping .653 last season. The only game they lost last season was a nonleaguer

16 • Prep Baseball / Fastpitch • The Chronicle, Centralia/Chehalis, Wash. Thursday, March 22, 2018

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