The Todd Beamer softball team split a pair of games Friday to snag the South Puget Sound League’s third seed into districts.

After rolling into the semifinals with a pair of wins Thursday at the Kent Service Fields, the Titans were beaten by Tahoma, the champions of the SPSL North, in their opener Friday afternoon, 9-5.

But Beamer (19-6) got back on track later in the night and beat Kentridge in the third/fourth game, 6-3. The Titans will open up the 16-team West Central/Southwest District Tournament Friday at 10 a.m. against the Puyallup Vikings. The double-elimination tournament will be played at Sprinker Park in Spanaway with the top-eight placers advancing to the Class 4A State Tournament.

Beamer and Puyallup split their two regular-season meetings in the SPSL South and both finished 12-4 in league play. The Titans beat the Vikings, 3-2, in their first meeting and Puyallup won, 8-7, in the second go-round.

Beamer secured third place at the SPSL Tournament by shutting down Kentridge early and hanging on in the late innings. The Titans jumped out to a 5-0 lead with single runs in the first, second, two in the fourth and one in the fifth innings. But the Chargers mounted a comeback in the bottom of the sixth with three runs of their own to tighten the score to 5-3.

But Beamer added a run in the seventh and sophomore Madison Rogers shut down Kentridge in the seventh. Rogers allowed only three hits on the day to the Chargers, while striking out 12. She walked only two and all three of Kentridge’s runs were unearned.

Offensively, the Titans’ only starting senior, Halle Colson, led the way. Colson finished 1 for 2 with a triple and two RBIs. In total, seven of Beamer’s nine starters had a hit.

Junior Taylor Wiemern-Pierce ended up 2 for 3 with two runs and a triple and Rogers, Sophie Afework and Analee Scott also knocked in a run. Megan Jewett-Chan also scored twice for the Titans.

Against Tahoma earlier in the day, Beamer actually outhit the Bears, 9 to 5, but couldn’t push runs across at key moments in the game.

Tahoma jumped all over the Titans, taking a 7-1 lead through the first two innings. The Bears tallied three runs in the top of the first and four more in the second. Beamer attempted to come back with three runs of its own in the second, to cut the lead to 7-4, but that was as close as it would get. Tahoma scored two more runs in the sixth to put the game away.

Colson finished 2 for 3 with a home run, three RBIs and two runs for the Titans. Kelsey McDonnell and Afework also knocked in single runs for Beamer with Afework finishing 2 for 3.

Jefferson

The Raiders won’t be making their fifth-straight appearance at the Class 4A State Fastpitch Tournament. The Mount Rainier Rams made sure of that Friday at the SPSL Tournament.

The Rams won a slugfest over the Raiders, 21-18, at the Kent Service Fields in a loser-out, winner-to-districts contest. Mount Rainier pounded out 20 hits, including three home runs.