RICHLAND — The No. 8 seed Royal Knights got back to the 1A State Softball Tournament’s championship game after defeating No. 4 Cedar Park Christian 6-4 in the semifinal Saturday morning, capitalizing on a four-run bottom of the first to take an early lead.

Royal bested No. 1 seed Montesano, who the Knights played in last season’s state title game, 6-4 in the state quarterfinals Friday.

“We felt confident coming in after the big win,” Royal head coach Lisa Lawrence said. “We were just taking it inning by inning and trying to win every inning, and it worked out.”

The Eagles struck first, taking a 1-0 lead in the top of the first inning by scoring off of a Royal error. However, the lead was short-lived; the Knights responded by scoring four runs in the bottom of the same inning, as sophomore Jill Allred, senior Randi Allred, sophomore Taylor Webb and senior Jaya Griffin all drove in a runs 

“They came out and scored one, and we answered with the four — that felt good, going into the second inning with a lead,” Lawrence said. 

While Royal’s offense sparked in the bottom of the first, it took three innings for the Knights to add any more runs. 

Jill Allred gave the Knights a 6-2 lead with a two-RBI single in the bottom of the fourth, sending home senior Raegan Wardenaar and junior Audrey Bergeson. 

“I knew that she might have thrown me a change-up, so I was just waiting and sitting, and just hit it,” Allred said. 

A two-run top of the sixth for Cedar Park Christian got the score back within two, but the Knights held on in the top of the seventh with two strikeouts from Jill Allred, with junior Lily Delarosa catching the game-sealing out on a fly ball in center field.

“Our girls play with a lot of grit, all the way through the seven innings,” Lawrence said. “Just having that steadiness and willing to fight back goes a long way.”

Griffin credited Royal players in the dugout cheering on teammates during at-bats for the win.

“Staying really loud and excited in the dugout, it’s a really (momentum-based) game and girls need to feel that team bonding work together,” Griffin said. “We stayed loud, we have amazing cheers. I think that really gets rallies going.”

In the circle, Jill Allred pitched all seven innings surrendering five hits and three walks, while striking out 13 Eagles.

“I feel very confident because I know that my defense is out there backing me up,” Allred said. 

Before taking on Cedar Park Christian, the Knights were met with Montesano in the state quarterfinals on Friday; Royal played the Bulldogs earlier this season, suffering a 9-4 loss April 12. After the two squads traded blows through the first six innings, Royal scored three runs in the top of the seventh to jump out to a lead, eventually holding on for the win.

“(Montesano’s) a great competitor, a big rival of ours,” Lawrence said. “We just had that consistency inning after inning, some clutch hits in the seventh when we were down by one run to get the lead.”

Griffin led the Knights with three hits against Montesano, also tying with sophomore Emerson Eilers for the team-high in RBI (two). 

“I had a little trick — I wanted to stay in the back of the box to crowd the plate; let her hit me if she wanted to hit me,” Griffin said. 

Eilers gave Royal the lead for good with a two-RBI double in the top of the seventh, one at-bat after Delarosa tied the game at four with an RBI double.

“We needed to be done with this game — we’d seen the pitcher three times, we knew what she was going to do. I was ready, and just looking for the one pitch to smack,” Delarosa said.

Royal met No. 6 seed Seton Catholic in Saturday’s 1A state championship game, but scores were not available in time for press deadline. The Wednesday edition of the Columbia Basin Herald will have a full story on the results of the game.

“It’s really exciting,” Lawrence said. “I think we have a comfort level because we’ve been there and we know the excitement. It’s really satisfying at this point in the season to make it to the championship.”

Ian Bivona may be reached at ibivona@columbiabasinherald.com. 

Box scores

Royal at Montesano
ROY: 0-2-0-0-0-1-3 6
MON: 1-1-1-0-0-1-0 4

Royal vs Cedar Park Christian
CDR: 1-0-1-0-0-2-0 4
ROY: 4-0-0-2-0-0-X 6

    Royal senior Randi Allred waits for a pitch during Saturday’s state semifinal against Cedar Park Christian. Allred was one of four Knights to drive in a run during the bottom of the first inning.
  

    Royal senior Jaya Griffin leads off of second base during the top of the first inning against Cedar Park Christian on Saturday. On Friday against Montesano, Griffin led the Knights with three hits.
  

    Royal sophomore Jill Allred pitches against Cedar Park Christian in the semifinals of the 1A State Softball Tournament on Saturday. Allred had 13 strikeouts in the win, surrendering five hits and three walks.