Yelm slugs way to 3A state softball, Timberline battles through consolation bracket to join them
Yelm High School knows what it needs to do to fare well at the state 3A softball championships this week at the Regional Athletic Complex:
Hit and hit some more.
Meanwhile, Timberline hit the ball hard and far to take the seventh and final state berth from Districts 3 & 4 but will go as far in state as sophomore pitcher Jasmyn Polanco can carry them.
For Yelm (18-6), the trip to state is almost a part of its normal schedule. They’ve been second or third in each of the last three 3A tourneys played. Timberline hasn’t been since the 2008 team won its first three games before being knocked out by Kennedy Catholic.
The Tornados entered the weekend’s Districts 3/4 championships needing only a win Thursday over Auburn Riverside to insure a state berth. They got it… 18-16.
Saturday, they lost their semi-final matchup with Bonney Lake, 10-0, before claiming third place with a 12-8 win over Prairie.
“We need to hit more. Our pitchers get hit,” admitted Tornados’ coach Lindsay Walton. “We have to score in multiple innings.”
Walton said her team didn’t worry after taking the loss to Bonney Lake, which ultimately fell in the championship game, 5-2, to Peninsula.
“There was no fear, just disappointment,” she said. “We had too many errors and we need to have clean defense.”
Against the Falcons, freshman first baseman Jessika Jennings hit for the cycle, going 4-for-4, driving in four runs and scoring four more.
“Jessika’s a hard worker. She’s a gamer,” said Walton. She’s very focused when she’s up at the plate. She’s someone who loves the game. You can see it in everything she does.”
Kailei Thompson and Molley Embrey, who drove in five runs, each had three hits and Ashlyn Aven belted a solo home run.
Yelm used the game to create momentum for state.
“After we lost, we said ‘hey, let’s get this next one and go into state with a win under our belts and, hopefully, quite a few hits so we can carry those positives over to state,” Walton said.
Meanwhile, Timberline has had a roller coaster season.
When Polanco, daughter of Blazers’ coach Lynsi Polanco, is in the circle, the Blazers are hard to beat. When she missed some games after entering concussion protocols after a batted ball grazed her head during a game with Yelm, opponents chalked up scores of 23. 22 and 12 against Timberline’s other pitchers. Even a struggling 1A team, Tenino, put up 11 when Polanco was held out of a season-ending nonleague game.
“Jasmyn’s a big reason why we’re state bound,” the elder Polanco said.
Over the weekend, though, the Blazers (11-11) showed their overall toughness and signs of a momentum shift that began with a 7-3 road win at Gig Harbor two weeks back.
“We hit a lull in the middle of the season,” said coach Polanco. “It’s been building. We had five games in one week, four of them in league, and beat Gig Harbor. That was a huge win for us and we’ve been on an upswing since. We haven’t slowed down, the momentum has been picking up.
“And this is the perfect time to do it.”
In Thursday’s opening bidistrict game, the Blazers routed Stadium 11-1 as Jorge Hernandez went 3-for-4 with a triple to drive in four runs and Avaleis Wilson homered. Polanco pitched a one-hitter, striking out 12.
That set up a game with Lakes that Timberline won, 13-3, as Wilson and Tori Trotter each hammered four hits and Polanco homered to help her own 12-strikeout cause.
Saturday’s first game, though, sent the Blazers to the brink as Heritage beat them 10-5, despite a three-hit performance by Kassidy Jack.
The loss set up a must-win game for seventh with Auburn Mountainview. Timberline handled the pressure.
“My girls are hungry,” Lynsi Polanco said.
Carrisa Frederick put the Blazers ahead to stay with a grand slam in the top of the first, fueling a nine-run inning and letting them coast to the finish, 12-1. Jack and Polanco also homered and Polanco fired another 12 strikeout one hitter.
“It was a team effort, we had everybody hit,” said coach Polanco.
The state tournament has yet to be seeded so neither team knows yet who they’ll open against.
