Once again, Redmond is the stumbling block for Yelm in state playoffs
Drea Schwaier had an uncomfortable sense of déjà vu Saturday morning at the Regional Athletic Complex in Lacey.
She hit the ball right back to Redmond High School pitcher Kiki Malloy and sprinted for first base.
A year ago, in the third inning of the Class 3A state championship game against the Mustangs, the Yelm senior was tangled up on a similar play. She fell, broke her hand, and had to exit that game.
This time around, Redmond second baseman Camille Eaton dropped the throw and Schwaier was safe, starting a seventh inning rally that loaded the bases for the Tornados in the opening round of the 3A state playoffs.
“It was the exact same play, but I just ran harder,” Schwaier said.
Pinch runner Natalie Morfoot came in for her.
“I got out of there as fast as I could,” Schwaier said.
Unfortunately for Yelm, none of the three runners scored and they fell to the Mustangs, 3-0, to drop to the consolation bracket.
The Tornados (26-3) won a loser-out game against Stadium, 4-0, later in the afternoon to remain alive, and finished the evening with a 5-2 win over Garfield to stay in the hunt for a third-place trophy.
Yelm plays another loser-out game at 9 a.m. Saturday against Bainbridge, needing two wins to take home hardware.
Schwaier struck out 13 against Redmond and 10 against Stadium, but the Tornados late-arriving offense ended dreams of returning to the state-title game.
“It was very disappointing,” Yelm coach Lindsay Walton said. “Drea was pitching a great game. We had discussed what we wanted to do with our batters against Redmond, but offensively, we didn’t show up until the seventh inning.”
The Mustangs grabbed a 1-0 lead on a solo home run by Jennifer Cummings in the bottom of the first, and extended their advantage to 3-0 in the third when Camille Eaton ripped a two-run double.
Yelm managed only a Taelyn Cutler single and a Hailey Brown double through the first six innings, before putting together its only real threat in the top of the seventh.
After Morfoot came on to pinch run for Schwaier, Brown moved her to second with her second hit of the day, a single to left.
With two outs, Ciara Brown singled up the middle to load the bases, bringing the go-ahead run to the plate.
But, with Calli Jesmer batting, Morfoot tried to score on a wild pitch, and was caught in a rundown for the final out of the game.
“It was a little disappointing,” said Schwaier, a Whitworth University commit. “I’m proud of us because we played hard and that’s all you can ask for.”
Later against Stadium, Yelm scored in the first inning and never lost the lead.
Jaeden Ells led off the game for the Tornados with a double, eventually scoring on a fielder’s choice.
“I wasn’t focused on getting a big hit. As the leadoff hitter, I want the girls and myself to see more pitches,” Ells said. “But it’s a nice relief when we score runs in the early innings.”
With Schwaier on her way to a complete-game one-hitter, Stadium got only one runner into scoring position, when Tigers pitcher McKenna Braegelmann doubled with two outs in the bottom of the first.
At one point, Schwaier retired eight batters in a row.
“My change-up was working really good and my catcher (Gubser) called an amazing game, she really helped me,” Schwaier said.
Center fielder Anna Viveros contributed to the defense when she reached over and crashed into the temporary fence, bending it to the ground, to rob Stadium’s Samantha Coach of a home run in the fourth inning.
But Yelm didn’t put it away until a three-run burst in the fifth, started by Viveros’ bunt single and later hits by Cutler, Brown and Sage Farrell.
“Our bats were on fire the first half of the year, but we’ve been in a little bit of a slump, so went back to small ball a bit,” Walton said.
“We wanted to get some hits, and score some runs. It was nice to score early and get a rally going later on, nice to come out and win a game handily.”
CLASS 2A
W.F. West 11, Selah 1: Does this sound familiar? The Bearcats (22-3) are headed to the state semifinals at Carlon Park in Selah.
W.F. West, the defending 2A state champion, breezed by Selah in the quarterfinals, and shut out White River, 10-0, in the opening round Friday.
W.F. West plays Woodland at 10 a.m. Saturday in the semifinals.
CLASS 1A
Elma 3, Cle Elum-Roslyn 1: The Eagles (19-6) will return to the state semifinals for the first time since 2014 thanks to the bat of Chloe Velasco.
Already down 1-0 in the top of the second at Columbia Playfield in Richland, Velasco came to bat with Molly Johnston on base, after reaching on an error.
The Warriors mishandled Velasco’s ground ball, and she reached on an error. Johnston came in to score on the play.
That wasn’t the only time Velasco struck. She knocked in the go-ahead run for the Eagles in the top of the fourth with a double to center field that scored Destry Dineen.
Pitcher Quin Mikel held down the Warriors’ offense in a complete game, striking out nine and giving up Cle Elum-Roslyn’s lone run on an RBI single by Anna Kelly.
Elma’s final run came in the top of the seventh, when Olivia Cain scored from third on a fielder’s choice.
Elma beat Cascade of Leavenworth, 15-3, earlier in the day to advance to the quarterfinals game against the Warriors.
The Eagles meet Chewelah at 9 a.m. Saturday in the semifinals.
Staff writer Jordan Whitford contributed to this report.
This story was originally published May 25, 2018 at 8:15 PM with the headline "Once again, Redmond is the stumbling block for Yelm in state playoffs."