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Tigers victorious over East Valley, advance to state

MIKE MAYNARD | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 1 year, 1 month AGO
by MIKE MAYNARD
| May 19, 2025 6:00 PM

EPHRATA — The Tigers softball team, 21-10, defeated East Valley, 19-5, with a final score of 17-1 on Saturday. The Tigers’ second and fourth inning efforts propelled them to victory.

“We hit the ball really well, we played some pretty errorless defense,” head coach Heather Wood said, “They had a goal in mind, and they achieved it.”

The Tigers opened the game on fire, scoring two runs in the first inning and exploding for six in the second. A two-out rally against East Valley boosted their efforts in the second inning.

In the bottom of the third inning, East Valley would get on the board for the first and only time. The Tigers responded at the top of the fourth inning with another explosive offensive effort. They racked up six more runs, increasing their lead to 13-1 heading into the fifth inning.

The Tigers would finish what they started with three more runs before throwing East Valley out and securing the 17-1 victory.

Olivia Bicondova’s pitching efforts helped the Tigers defensively and prevented East Valley from building any momentum. On 89 pitches, Bicondova only allowed two hits and struck out six East Valley batters.

On offense, Jaemyson Durfee went four-for-four at bat and racked up three RBIs for the Tigers. Dakota Durfee also racked up four RBIs for the Tigers.

“They all did their job; that’s why we’re heading to state,” Wood said, “This was one of our goals. I think our second goal is to make it to day two of state. You just go one game at a time, and you've got to leave it on the field. They know that it’s a do-or-die situation, so we’ll bring it and see where we complete.”

The Tigers will head to Carlon Park this Friday to play the Olympic Trojans (20-3-1) with hopes of making a deep run in the state tournament.

    Ephrata’s Jaemyson Durfee plays in a previous game against Othello. Durfee went four-for-four at bat and racked up three RBIs.
 
 
    Dakota Durfee plays in a game last season. Durfee contributed four RBIs to the Tigers' win over East Valley.
 
 


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