(Stella Elley sliding home)

Story and photos by Tracy Burrows
Reporting for West Seattle Blog

Monday night at Nino Cantu Southwest Athletic Complex (NCSWAC), the #9 seed West Seattle High School softball team defeated #8 seed Sammamish High School 17-5 in the first round of the District 2 championship tournament.

The West Seattle Wildcats appear to be hitting their stride just as the postseason heats up. West Seattle jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the top of the first inning. In the bottom of the inning, Sammamish had the tying runs on base, but Wildcats catcher Marina Strange ended the threat with a bullet throw to catch a runner stealing second.

West Seattle broke the game open in the second inning, scoring 8 runs to take an 11-1 lead. Julia Herron topped off the hitting spree with an RBI triple. Facing elimination from the tournament, Sammamish put together a rally of their own, closing the score to 11-5 in the third inning. But West Seattle kept finding the gaps in the Sammamish defense on the way to scoring 6 runs in the fifth inning. Hits by Daeja Piggee (photo below), Kaila Ignacio, and Julia Herron highlighted the inning. Kaila (photo above) pitched a brilliant two innings of relief, notching several strikeouts and shutting down the Sammamish offense.

Up next for the Wildcats on Tuesday at 4 pm at NCSWAC is a rematch with the top-seeded Ballard Bears, to whom they recently lost, 11-6, in the Metro League tournament. Win or lose, they will still have at least one more game to play in the District tournament as they continue their quest to make this year’s State tournament in Lacey.