By Gerardo Bolong
CONTRIBUTING WRITER

Richland became the final destination for this season's Seattle Christian Class 1A Nisqually League and Tri-District 1/2/3 softball champions at the state tournament held at the Columbia Playfields on May 30-31.

The Warriors were edged out 5-4 in a loser-out game against Okanogan on May 30 to end their great season with a 15-5 record.

Seattle Christian took an early 3-0 lead only to see Okanogan comeback and lead 4-3. Seattle Christian had the tying run at third base in the seventh inning, but could not send it home.

"We played really solidly, hit the ball right at them and couldn't find a timely hit," said Warrior head coach Rick Ronish. "We had lots of base runners and couldn't find that timely hit."

SC opened the tournament with a 10-8 victory against the District 7 1A Northeast A League No. 3 Medical Lake Cardinals.

"We fell behind and worked our way back to win as Hannah Ruffcorn delivered a walk off two-run double just inside the right field foul line," said coach Ronish. "Lisa Kumasaka was the hitting star."

On the road to the state championship, the Elma Eagles from Grays Harbor, featuring tournament MVP Brooke Goldsmiith, soundly defeated the Warriors 14-0. This left SC with one final chance to survive against Okanogan.

The Eagles wasted little time settling the issue. Goldsmith opened the game with a single and scored on Peyton Elliot's RBI single. Elma then erupted for six runs in the second on the way to the five-inning game that was shortened by the 10-run mercy rule.

"It was a fun run," concluded coach Ronish. "Our starting lineup at state included three freshman and three sophomores. I'm incredibly proud of this team. They built a seven game win streak, including the first game at state. All these games were pressure packed. we return 15 girls and are looking forward to working our way back for a third consecutive year and four out of the last five. it is no shame to lose to the state champions (who defeated runner up Mt. Baker in the championship). We beat Mt. baker for the Tri-District championship. it was a rough road to get to where we wanted to be. The experience we gained is motivation we can build upon for next spring."