High School Softball: Naselle sets new standard with 2nd place finish at 1B State Tournament
PHOTO GALLERY – No. 7 Comets leave Yakima as State runners-up after loss to Liberty Christian in first-ever title tilt
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1B WIAA Softball / Championship Report
YAKIMA – The Naselle softball team settled for a second place finish at the 1B State Tournament on Saturday, but that result was a victory in and of itself. The No. 7 ranked Comets sent a message to the seeding committee over the course of three days at the Yakima Gateway Complex, notching upsets and taking names against the toughest competition in all the land.
That message? Pacific County is not to be trifled with on the softball diamond.
After reeling in victories over No. 10 Quilcene and No. 2 Sunnyside Christian (extra innings!) to open the tournament, the Comets opened Saturday with a win over No. 6 Colton.
Yes, it was the first Naselle softball has reached the title tilt. In fact, the Comets were the first team from District IV to reach the 1B Championship game since the classification’s inception in 2006.
And sure, the Comets went on to fall 7-4 against No. 1 ranked Liberty Christian in the championship game, falling just a few innings short of a fairy tale finish. But after winning another league title, another District title, and their first three games of the state tournament the Naselle nine (plus a few more) managed to turn plenty of heads this season.
“Nobody really thought we were going to come this far,” Naselle head coach Bekah Wirkkala said. “We believed in each other when nobody else believed in us.”
Last season Wirkkala was watching her team compete at State from home while taking a leave of absence with a newborn baby. This spring it was all hands on deck for a team that knew it was loaded with talent.
“We just kept pushing through, even in the highs and lows,” Naselle sophomore ace Avrey Ford said. “We all believed that we could get here.”
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