Warden fast pitch pushes on toward state goal
REBECCA PETTINGILL | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 4 years, 5 months AGO
The Warden High School fastpitch team is on track to continue their tradition of making it to state nearly every year over the last 20 years.
File Photo
WARDEN — The Warden High School Lady Cougars softball team is at it again, paving their way to the state tournament.
“I've known these girls for a long time, and so I think we're just grinding and staying on pace to take state. That's our goal,” said Head coach Randy Wright.
In the 2B classification, the Lady Cougars are ranked No. 4 in the state on the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association Rating Percentage Index. They hold a 13-1-0 overall record and are No. 1 in the league.
The team has a history of making it to state nearly every year since 2003. The last time the Lady Cougars participated at state was the last time the state fastpitch tournament was held, spring 2019. That year, Warden was still in the 1A classification.
In the 2019 tournament, Warden lost in the first round of state to Elma, 7-4. Despite that loss, Warden then went on to win their next five games against Colville, Mt. Baker, Cle Elum-Roslyn, Elma and Forks to place third at state.
District 5 will only have three berths to the state tournament from the district tournament. This means both teams in the district championship game will have guaranteed tickets to state regardless of the result of the championship game, along with the team that places third.
When asked why he felt like this group of girls specifically had a shot at taking it all, Wright said “I'd say their experience, even the young ones, they’ve got a lot of experience in playing ball. They play a lot of club ball and they dedicate a lot of time to it. They've been playing since they were little. Just a good group of athletes overall. They work well together.”
The team still has three regular-season matchups left. Next up is a doubleheader against River View High School at River View on May 6.
The following game will be against Royal High School on May 10 at Warden, a game that Wright said would be a game that folks won’t want to miss.
The final game is on May 13 against league opponent League Dayton-Waitsburg at Warden.
While Warden’s season seems to extend closer to the district and state tournament than most other teams in the Basin, Wright said this was done on purpose to try to plan games for better weather and have less of a break between the last regular-season game and the playoffs.
Rebecca Pettingill may be reached at [email protected].
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