SELAH – There was no late night or early morning haze for the two-time state champion Yakima Diamond Cats on the field Friday going into Saturday.

Yakima finished pool play 3-0 at the 18-team Greater Yakima Girls Softball Association’s Hot August Nights being played overnight at Carlon Park.

The Diamond Cats are the second seed out of Pool A behind the Kennewick-based Washington Angles, who edged Yakima in the runs-allowed tiebreaker.

Bracket play for the Diamond Cats will begin at 1:36 a.m. against Oregon’s Frost Elite (David). The semifinals of the single-elimination tournament are set for 3:11 at the multi-field complex, with the championship game slated for 4:46.

“We finished pool play at 4 a.m. this morning … yes we are crazy,” Yakima coach Casey Johnson said. “The girls love it. They have a midnight home run derby, party and music.”

Trailers helped fill the Carlon Park parking lot, with grilling and fires aplenty.

With conditions not reaching the triple-digits it sometimes does this time of the year, the players were dawning jackets and sweatshirts.

The Diamond Cats, coming off a tournament championship last weekend at the Summer Meltdown at Chehalis, remained hot, though.

They opened pool play defeating the Palouse River Wranglers Black 18U 7-2, before posting a pair of victories Saturday morning. Yakima handled Sabotage Northwest 18U of Lewis County 11-1 before capping pool play with a 14-2 victory against Oregon’s Vanquish Elite 16U.

Ainsley Johnson struck out 14 against the Wranglers, while giving up just one hit and one earned run. She helped her cause at the plate with three hits – two of them doubles – and three RBI.

The CBBN MVP’s West Valley teammates also got into the action as Ashleigh Jams had a two-run single, Calleigh Sinnes doubled and knocked in a run and Madi Statler doubled.

Sinnes’ two-run homer led a 13-hit attack against Sabotage Northwest back Elise Heaters one-hitter.

James added a two-run triple, Heater had two hits – one of them a double – and drove in a run, and Leila Cook also had two hits.

In their pool play finale, Statler had a two-run HR and drove in three, James had two hits (one of them a two-run double), Brooklynn Root doubled and drove in three runs, Sophiya Castaneda added a two hit (including a two-run double) and drove in three.

Cook doubled and singled, Lauren Lewis had an RBI double and Kodi Rasmussen added a triple for Yakima (25-9).