Knights season concludes at tournament
MIKE MAYNARD | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 3 weeks, 2 days AGO
Jill Allred (6) throws her next pitch against Montesano on Friday. The Knights’ season concluded Saturday in the consolation bracket of the 1A state softball tournament.
MIKE MAYNARD/COLUMBIA BASIN HERALD
The Knights’ Hali Christensen (14) throws the ball to first base after fielding a ground ball against Klahowya Thursday.
Lizzie Jenks (13) steps up to bat for the Knights against Klahowya Thursday
Sarah Bergeson (1) eyes the Montesano pitcher while at bat for the Royal Knights in the second round of the 1A state softball tournament.
RICHLAND — The Royal Knights’ (20-9) season concluded Friday after suffering back-to-back losses to Montesano and College Place in the 1A state softball tournament. Despite the result, Head Coach Lisa Lawrence was proud of her team’s fight to the very end.
“The girls just never gave up, but we didn’t string it together to make it go our way,” she said. “But this team all season has just kept the energy up all the way through, and even in the last inning getting hits and base runners (they) just never gave up.”
Klahowya: 10-9
After a rocky start resulting in the Knights falling behind 0-3, they rallied in the third and fourth innings to take the lead with eight runs. However, the Eagles bounced back with four runs of their own to cut the deficit to one. After a run in the sixth inning provided some breathing room, Klahowya responded with two runs to force extra innings. After the Knights’ defense held strong in the top of the eighth, they managed to score a run to seal the win at 10-9.
Montesano: 20-4
The Knights started strong, scoring two runs in the top of the first inning behind Emerson Eilers and Aurora Santillan. However, Montesano responded with three runs in the bottom of the first. From there, the Bulldogs held Royal scoreless for two straight innings and added 12 more runs to their lead to make it 15-2.
Royal fought hard through five innings, with Avarie Hill and Sarah Bergeson getting home, but Montesano added five more runs to seal the win 20-4 to advance to the semifinals.
College Place: 4-0
From there, the Knights moved into the consolation bracket, with a chance to compete for a third-place finish. In the first inning, both teams traded three outs before quickly advancing to the second inning.
College Place added a single run in the second and third innings to take a 2-0 lead early. While the Knights' defense continued to battle, including a scoreless fourth inning, College Place eventually added two more runs in the bottom of the fifth to make it 4-0.
The Knights' offense, despite their best efforts, couldn’t get home and College Place held on through seven innings to advance.
Despite the results, Lawrence came away proud of what the Knights accomplished this season.
“This team has been really fun (to coach),” Lawrence said. “They’re just a bunch of great athletes all the way through, and (have) great attitudes, played as a team, just worked hard all season, and continued to improve all the way through, which I think was really a mark of the good team.”
Not only do the players get to experience the excitement of competing in the postseason against strong teams across the state, but they also gain invaluable experiences that can impact their daily lives, the coach said.
“We’re here for life lessons too, and to develop the girls as players, and I think these are lessons, win or lose, that you carry forward into life, and they’ve got good things ahead of them,” she said.
The Knights’ Hali Christensen (14) throws the ball to first base after fielding a ground ball against Klahowya Thursday.
Lizzie Jenks (13) steps up to bat for the Knights against Klahowya Thursday
Sarah Bergeson (1) eyes the Montesano pitcher while at bat for the Royal Knights in the second round of the 1A state softball tournament.ARTICLES BY MIKE MAYNARD
Mavericks’ Borchert to continue softball in college
MOSES LAKE — The Mavericks’ Amilia Borchert has committed to St. Cloud State University to join the Huskies softball program, she said. Though the Minnesota-based school is far from home, she has some connections there that will help her transition. “I’ve got a lot of family there,” Borchert said. “They also have the major I’m looking for; they have mass communications/sports broadcasting which is what I really want to do.” Her interest in this field began developing at a young age, she said.
Vikings volleyball hosting day camp for local athletes
MOSES LAKE — The Big Bend Community College Vikings volleyball program is hosting a day camp on June 26 for local Basin high school athletes. Head Coach Lindsey Linthicum said this is a great opportunity for these athletes to get a feel for college volleyball. “I will do a questionnaire at the end of the camp that gives the girls an opportunity to say, ‘How do you run a camp or not camp? How do you run a program, what are my best options if I am looking into a college?’ and things like that,” she said. “If they have the idea of wanting to do something like that, it really helps them to get the gears going, so they can start doing their own research and figure out what works best for them.”
From World Cup call-ups to NCAA breakthroughs, local colleges make news
MOSES LAKE — Even when the academic calendar reaches its end, college athletics continue their work into the summer. See below some of the latest headlines from local Washington colleges.