ROYAL CITY - The Royal High softball team finished the season with two losses in the district tournament, but coach Robyn Valdez had nothing but praise for her girls.

"We finished the regular season 11-9 and overall 11-11, a huge accomplishment for these girls," she said.

Valdez's girls didn't go quietly. They got in their licks before exiting, forcing the opponents to play complete games. They fell to Naches, 13-6 and LaSalle, 14-11.

Highlights against Naches were: McDarra VonStein, 2-4 with a double and one RBI; Ali Rodriguez, 2-4; Ashley Valle, 2-4; Kayla Smith, a double; and pitcher Seila Jenks, four strikeouts.

Against LaSalle, VonStein went 3-3 with a double, Smith batted 3-5 with a double, Valle went 3-3 with 2 sacrifices (one bunt, one fly) and a double, Flor Araujo batted 2-2 with a double and a triple and three RBI, and Carmen Rodriguez had two RBI

Royal came out strong with the bats against Naches, scoring two runs in the first inning on three hits. Unfortunately, the Knights weren't quite as prepared on defense and gave the Rangers five extra outs in the first inning, allowing four runs to score.

"We allowed another four runs in the second inning, leaving the score 8-2. We made a rally in the fourth and got back four runs, but it just wasn't enough," Valdez said.

The Royal girls had high hopes going into Saturday. After looking over the remaining bracket, they thought they had pretty good chances at making it to state.

Royal won a coin toss and was designated the home team. The defense looked great. Royal allowed just one run in the first inning and then scored four.

LaSalle turned its bats on in the second inning during a two-out rally that scored three runs. LaSalle continued to hit everything. Royal went into the sixth inning down 10-5.

With Jenks on first, Carmen Rodriguez hit a hard ground ball to the short stop, who bobbled it, and then Smith hit a solid single to load the bases.

Valle came through with a tomahawk swing that scored two of the runners. Araujo doubled Smith and Valle home.

"We had a couple more hits but, unfortunately, no more runs, leaving is in the sixth inning down 9-10," Valdez lamented.

Royal had two errors in the seventh inning, allowing another four runs to score and wasn't able to battle of the way back in the bottom of the seventh.

"It was a hard loss for us and a very emotional end to what was an amazing season," Valdez said. Starting out the season, no one would ever have imagined to see this team at the district tournament. The girls fought hard against every team they faced this season, and the entire coaching staff could not be more proud of the growth and effort we saw."