Lady Bears make Elite Eight at state softball championships

YAKIMA – The Brewster Lady Bears varsity softball team made a strong statement in the first round of state softball competition with a 13-0 win over Asotin to advance to the Elite Eight at Yakima last Friday, May 26. But the Napavine Tigers ended Brewster’s shot at the championship with an 11-3 victory over the Lady Bears later that evening.
Brewster scored five runs in the first inning, one in the second, another in the third and six in the fourth to stop Asotin in four and a half innings and pitcher Yvette Sanchez fanned eight Panthers to get the win.
Napavine’s strong presence at the plate collected 19 hits off Sanchez despite a pitching performance that struck out four and gave up no walks in the course of 108 pitches.
Brewster took a one-run lead in the second inning but the Tigers quickly turned the tables with five runs of their own in the third. The Lady Bears added two more runs in the fourth inning while Napavine added two runs in the fourth, one in fifth and three in the seventh.
Napavine advanced to the championship game but lost to Pe Ell/Willapa Valley.
The Lady Bears dispatched Liberty Bell, 16-11 in the march toward third and fourth place Saturday morning, May 27. That drive was ended with a loss to Northwest Christian, Colbert, later the same afternoon in a game that could have gone either way between two well-matched teams.
Northwest took an early two-run lead in the first inning until Brewster rallied with three runs in the second to take a 2-1 lead. The Crusaders fought back with a three-run inning in the third against two for Brewster to knot the game at five-all. Following a scoreless fourth inning for both teams, Northwest scored twice in the fifth to go up by two.
The Lady Bears gave Northwest a scare when Marlisa Garcia scored in the seventh and Cynthia Sanchez made it to scoring position at third base, but the final, tying run eluded Brewster for the loss.
The Crusaders got past Ocosta but lost to Toutle Lake in the contest for third and fourth place