YAKIMA – In a matchup that figured to be tight given the multi-tiered tiebreaker CBBN officials went through just to seed the district tournament, things couldn’t have started much worse for Eastmont starting pitcher Jace Burkhart.

First at-bat, home run for West Valley’s Calleigh Sinnes.

It was enough to give second-year Wildcats fastpitch coach Michael Koch painful flashbacks to the regular-season doubleheader when the Rams 10-run ruled Eastmont in the opener, and nearly erased a seven-run deficit in the second game.

“After the way they put it to us in Game 1 and the comeback they made in Game 2, we could've rolled up,” he said. “But we didn’t.”

Sinnes settled in – “she’s gutty,” Koch said – limiting the powerful West Valley lineup to four hits and the Wildcats took advantage of its opportunities for a 3-2 victory to capture the district championship and advance to the Class 4A state tournament for the fifth straight season.

Eastmont will find out Sunday its first-round opponent for the May 22-23 tournament at Richland’s Columbia Playfields.

West Valley will host Moses Lake, which drew the short straw in the three-team tiebreaker with the Rams and Wildcats, at 1 p.m. Saturday in a winner-to-state contest.

Early in Thursday’s matchup, Rams ace Ainsley Johnson looked like she could very well make Sinnes' blast hold up.

She struck out seven batters in the first three innings, and didn’t allow a ball to leave the infield.

Eastmont broke through in the fourth, however, with Maddie Wood singling, and Ava Garcia doubling with one out. Allie Hastings’ fly ball allowed Wood to score the tying run.

The Wildcats took the lead with two runs in the sixth, taking advantage of two West Valley errors. The Rams finished with three fielding gaffes, while Eastmont had just one.

“Ours ended up hurting us, unfortunately,” West Valley coach Brad Cramer said.

Johnson pulled the Rams to within a run in the bottom of the sixth with a solo shot, and Ashleigh James’ one-out double had West Valley threatening again in the seventh.

Burkhart, though, capped her strong outing with two strikeouts to end the game.

“We’re like, ‘Whoa, this is a great start,’” Cramer said. “We did the same thing against her in league, and we just hit the ball in the air.”

This time, however, Burkhart didn’t fade, finishing with eight strikeouts and just one walk in the chilly, blustery conditions.

Eastmont (16-6) finished with six hits, two of them from leadoff hitter Liz Fullbright.

“To do that against Johnson in the circle for West Valley, I couldn’t be more pleased,” Koch said. “We had a good week of practice but that doesn’t always matter. They’re incredibly coached and every time we play them it’s a battle.”

James had a pair of hits, and Johnson finished with 15 strikeouts for the Rams (17-5), who’ll look to rebound against the Mavericks.

“We get to shrug it off, and have a good practice tomorrow and get another shot at it,” Cramer said.

MOSES LAKE 24, WENATCHEE 4: At Moses Lake, Mya Martinez hit three home – two of them three-run blasts – and racked up nine RBI to send the Mavericks (16-3) to Saturday’s winner-to-state contest at West Valley.

Caitlin Decubber added four hits, including two doubles, and Avery Getzinger was 4 for 4, scored four runs and doubled, and Lila Johnson tripled, drove in four runs and had three runs and three runs.

Haidyn Delaney tripled and knocked in two runs, and Haylee Merz had two hits, including a double, for the Panthers, who finished the season 11-11.