Tumwater splits two games at district tournament

May 16—Box Score

At Recreation Park (Quarterfinal)

THUNDERBIRDS 14, BEAVERS 4 (6 inn.)

Woodland 000 130 — 4

Tumwater 120 704 — 14

TUM Pitching — Ferguson 6 IP, 5 H, 4 R (3 ER), 4 BB, 11 K. Highlights — Haase 2-4, HR, 2 RBI, BB, R; Stevens 3-5, RBI, 2 R; La Praim 2-5, RBI, R; Barrett 2-3, 2 RBI, BB, R

At Recreation Park (Semifinal)

BOBCATS 5, THUNDERBIRDS 4

Tumwater 001 003 0 — 4

Aberdeen 003 101 X — 5

TUM Pitching — Ferguson 6 IP, 9 H, 5 R (3 ER), 4 BB, 8 K. Highlights — Schock 2-4, RBI; Haase 1-3, RBI; La Praim 1-3, 2 RBI

Every sport can often make a claim to be a "game of inches."

That cliché rang true for Tumwater on Thursday, as the T-Birds ended up on the wrong end of two critically close plays in a 5-4 loss to Aberdeen in the 2A District 4 semifinals.

The first crucial play came in the bottom of the third, when Tumwater (17-5) was leading 1-0. Ella Ferguson was one strike away from working out of a bases-loaded jam, and her 0-2 pitch to Alyssa Yakovich missed just high of the zone.

Yakovich sent the next pitch into the gap, good enough for a bases-clearing three-run double that gave Aberdeen a 3-1 lead.

Aberdeen added on with one in the fourth, but the T-Birds began to rally back in the sixth.

After an error and two singles loaded the bases, Jamie Haase drilled a single to left to cut the deficit to two. Two batters later, Marissa La Praim lined a two-run single down the right-field line to tie the game at four. It was two pitches after another liner from La Praim landed just foul.

"What a clutch at-bat," Lupinski said. "That's what I've asked from the girls, 'someone give us consistency,' and that's Marissa. Whether it's at third base or the plate, she's done such a good job."

The game wasn't tied for long, though.

Aberdeen's Zoe Vessey hit a chopper to short, and she just beat the throw to first for a one-out infield single. After advancing to second on a ground ball, Laynie Yakovich hit a sharp line drive to third.

The ball went in-and-out of La Praim's glove and dribbled up the left-field line, allowing Vessey to come home for what stood as the game-winning run.

Ferguson ended up on the hook for the loss despite giving up just three earned runs, but she earned the win in Tumwater's quarter final win, a 14-4 victory, earlier in the day over Woodland.

Between the two games, Ferguson went 12 innings on the mound, allowing six earned runs and striking out 19.

"I thought she did a great job," Lupinski said. "To ask a pitcher to throw two games against two really good teams is really tough to do. I was really proud of Ella."

In addition to her pair of RBIs in the semifinal, La Praim went 2 for 5 with an RBI against Woodland.

Megan Barrett went 2 for 3 with two RBIs, Haase went 2 for 4 with a home run and also drove in two, and Sarah Stevens collected three hits in five trips to the plate.

"We hit our pitch," Lupinski said. "We knew what we were hunting and we hit that."

They brought the same approach against Aberdeen's Annika Hollingsworth, but the Cal Baptist commit did enough to limit the Thunderbirds offense.

"We got hits," Tumwater coach Ashley Lupinski said. "It just didn't go our way today."

The T-Birds will still have the chance to play their way into the state tournament, as they'll face Mark Morris, the GHSL regular-season champion, on Friday in a winner-to-state elimination game.

"We're still alive, and that's exciting," Lupinski said. "We're excited to compete one more time together to try to get to state. That's what you play for."