RICHLAND – It was a record-setting day for the West Valley fastpitch program Friday at the Class 4A state fastpitch tournament.

The Rams notched their first victory in the 4A tournament, doing so in dramatic fashion, and senior pitcher Ainsley Johnson capped her career by adding two more milestones.

After dropping its first-round game to No. 3 Issaquah, 14th-seeded West Valley battled back against 11th seed Skyview, winning 4-3 in eight innings at the Columbia Playfields.

The Rams looked like they very well could be two-and-out at their first tournament since 2022. But down to their final two outs, and trialing 3-1, West Valley got busy.

Freshman Tatum Trammell reached on an error, and junior Calleigh Sinnes followed with a home run to tie the score.

Johnson, who pitched all but 3 2/3 innings of the 22 the Rams played Friday, retired the Storm in order to send the game into extra innings.

With one out, senior Claire Saxton-Garza singled. Carter Raphoon, pinch-running for Saxton-Garza advanced to second on Lauren Lewis’ groundout.

Trammell singled in Raphoon to give the Rams the lead, which Johnson, the CBBN Player of the Year, protected by getting three ground outs.

“That was a lot of fun,” longtime West Valley coach Brad Cramer said. “That doesn’t happen without her.”

Johnson set the school record for strikeouts in a season, and recorded her 200th of the campaign against Skyview.

The Rams were 0-4 in the tournament before Friday.

“It was really cool, and we shared that with the girls,” Cramer said.

After a break, West Valley faced No. 7 Tahoma, but couldn’t continue the magic, and fell 7-0, finishing the season 19-7.

“We kind of ran out of gas,” Cramer said. “It’s hard to sit back down and then get that back up.”

Eastmont eliminated in two games

RICHLAND – CBBN district champion Eastmont, seeded 13th, ran into Mid-Columbia Conference power Richland in the opener, and were no-hit by the fourth-seeded Bombers, falling 21-0.

The Wildcats then fell to Kamiak, 4-1, and were ousted from the tournament.

Liz Fullbright tripled against the Knights for Eastmont, which finished the season 16-8.

CLASS 1A

College Place still alive for trophy

RICHLAND – Fourth-seeded College Place rebounded from a quarterfinal loss by beating SCAC rival and eighth-seeded Royal 4-0 to remain in contention for third place at the Class 1A state tournament Friday at the Columbia Playfields.

In a matchup of the SCAC co-MVPs, Hawks junior Anna Ortega tossed a three-hitter to outduel Knights senior Jill Allred.

Ortega struck out 15 batters against just one walk, sophomore Carli Ray hit a two-run double, and Payton Moore had a pair of doubles for College Place (23-3), which will advance to the trophy round with one win Saturday.

In Friday’s quarterfinals, Royal fell to No. 1 Montesano, 20-4.

Hali Christensen and Avarie Hill each had three hits and an RBI against the Bulldogs for the Knights, who finished the season 20-9.