STATE SOFTBALL: Jefferson defies seeding, earns another trip to 4A tournament

By Casey Olson • May 23, 2011 3:39 pm
Thomas Jefferson pitcher Katie Jackson throws during the Raiders' 1-0 win over Spanaway Lake Friday morning at the West Central District Tournament at the Sprinker Recreation Center in Tacoma. The Raiders will take on Walla Walla in their state opener at noon at Spokane's Merkel Park on Friday.
Thomas Jefferson pitcher Katie Jackson throws during the Raiders' 1-0 win over Spanaway Lake Friday morning at the West Central District Tournament at the Sprinker Recreation Center in Tacoma. The Raiders will take on Walla Walla in their state opener at noon at Spokane's Merkel Park on Friday.

After finishing eighth out of 10 teams at the South Puget Sound League Tournament, not much was expected of the Thomas Jefferson softball team.

The Raiders didn’t enter the West Central District Tournament with much of a chance at advancing to the program’s third appearance at the Class 4A State Tournament in the last four years.

But that didn’t mean TJ’s players and coaches didn’t believe they could make a run during Friday and Saturday’s district tournament at the Sprinker Recreation Center in Tacoma.

And that’s exactly what the Raiders did. The talented, but young, Jefferson squad upset Spanaway Lake in their opener Friday and finished 2-2 during the tournament to earn the West Central District’s eighth and final seed to state.

The Raiders will take on the Walla Walla Blue Devils at noon Friday at Merkel Park in Spokane in their state opener. Second-ranked Walla Walla won the Eastern Washington region and has lost just once this season.

Jefferson clinched its third trip to state in the last four seasons with a hard-fought 3-2 win over Central Kitsap Saturday afternoon in a loser-out contest.

The Raiders plated a single run in the bottom of the sixth inning to break a 2-2 tie. Sophomore Katie Jackson was again impressive on the mound for TJ, like she was all tournament long.

Jackson allowed only four hits to Central Kitsap, which scored single runs in the second and third innings. Jackson also finished 3 for 3 at the plate with a double to lead the TJ offense. Bailey Rundle collected a pair of hits and scored a run and Alexandria Crowe finished 1 for 2 with a run for the Raiders.

Jefferson will be the West Central District’s eighth seed into the Class 4A State Softball Tournament after losing a seeding game later Saturday afternoon to Emerald Ridge, 4-2.

The Raiders took the lead with a run in the top of the first, but Emerald Ridge responded with three of their own in the bottom of the first to take control of the game. Annalise Campbell finished 2 for 3 with a triple and a run and Rundle was 2 for 3 with an RBI during the game.

Jefferson earned the chance to play for the state tournament berth with a huge 1-0 win over Spanaway Lake and the Sentinels’ ace, Cara Custer, in their district opener Friday morning at Sprinker.

Spanaway Lake finished second at the SPSL Tournament, but Jackson kept the Sentinel hitters guessing all day. Jackson allowed only two hits and struck out five during the contest and got all the run support she needed in the top of the sixth inning when Rundle knocked in Alyssa Keyes.

Jefferson followed the win over Spanaway Lake with a tough 9-7, extra-inning loss to Skyview in the quarterfinals Friday afternoon. The Greater St. Helen’s League champions scored the final five runs of the game, including two in the top of the ninth to earn the win.

The Raiders tallied four runs in the bottom of the first inning and added three more in the fourth to take a 7-4 advantage. Jefferson finished with 10 hits during the game, including three by Crowe. Rundle continued her hot postseason by ending up with three RBIs and a double. Both Lexi Gornanson and Nicole Greenheck finished with two RBIs and a double.