Colfax Bulldogs again hit softball brink

Colfax softball players booked another round of tournament highlights, but again finished a win short of the trophy round in the 2B playoffs at Gateway Park Friday and Saturday in Yakima. Coach Terry Eng and the Bulldogs were stopped by Mossyrock in the third of a three-game enduro string Saturday after being bumped into the consolation bracket in the second round Friday.

The 3-2 bottom line for the playoff matches the state run made two years ago by another Eng team. Last year, Colfax posted a 2-2 run under Coach James Bledsoe but again landed one win short of a trophy.

The consolation round for the 16-team 2B tourney drops a team into a grinding second-day run which requires three straight wins to get to the final round for third-fourth.

Colfax bagged wins in the first two games Saturday with a dramatic 4-3 win over a league foe, Reardan, in the first game, and an 11-1 explosion over LaConner in the second round.

That put them up against Mossyrock where they were shut out for the first six innings. They scored one run in the seventh, but that turned out to be the end of the line.

“We just couldn’t get anything going,” Coach Terry Eng said.

Mossyrock charted eight hits and had a 5-0 shutout on the board before Colfax scored their lone run in the last inning. Pitcher Jamie McLean held Colfax to two hits.

The Vikings went on to edge DeSales 4-3 for third place in the trophy round.

Colfax started the second day of the tournament with the 4-3 win over Reardan in a battle which went nine innings. The elimination battle was the first time Colfax had faced Reardan since they swept the Indians in the Bi-County matchup.

In the top of the ninth, Colfax scored two runs to break the 2-2 tie.

The second extra inning started, under the rules, with a runner spotted at second base. Lauren Moore drew the assignment.

In what turned out to be a decisive play, senior Brooke Webber put down a bunt to move Moore to third base. Webber also beat out the bunt to get another Bulldog into scoring position.

Christa Nyholm, who topped the Bulldog batters with a .482 season average, then rapped a sacrifice fly to left field to score Moore.

Webber advanced on the fly and then scored on a two-out rip single up the middle by Sam Pearson.

Reardan then had their shot with a runner spotted on second in the bottom of the inning.

“We went into that thinking the first runner could score, but we had to stop it right there,” Eng said. “We had a two-run lead.”

Reardan also managed to put the first runner across the plate, but their leadoff bunter was nailed at first by the Colfax defense. Their bid ended when Scoops Hahn made an ice cream cone catch of a line drive at third base for the third out.

Reardan, Northwest Christian and Kettle Falls, the other Bi-County entrants all folded up the season in that first round Saturday.

Colfax went up against La Conner, the team that bounced NWC, and booked an 11-1 win.

“I was really thinking we’d be facing Northwest Christian,” Eng noted.

Colfax jumped to a 2-0 lead in the first inning and then scored five runs in a wild second inning on the way to an 11-1 win over the Braves.

Pearson pegged a two-run single to score Nyholm and Rachel Robinson in the first inning.

Colfax in the second inning scored three runs when Taylor Larsen bolted for first after the Braves catcher dropped her third strike. The Braves failed to snag the ball at first and later threw it away when Larsen streaked for third. She went on to score.

Webber and Nyholm singled and Rachel Robinson then uncorked a two-run single.

That put it at 7-0 on the way to the 11-1 win. Colfax totaled 13 hits in the game.

The Bulldogs squeezed in a lunch in the middle of the Gateway complex and then faced Mossyrock in the third round.

Friday, Colfax started with a 12-2 crunch of Liberty Bell in the opener. Colfax had 11 hits in the game, and the Mountain Lions booked seven errors.

The first win put the Bulldogs up against Pe Ell, the defending champs. The two teams didn’t pair off until 9:20 p.m. Friday after delays and overtime games threw the Gateway tourney schedule off track.

Pe Ell blanked Colfax 16-0 in five innings with 17 hits to drop Colfax into the consolation grind for the next day.

The 3-2 run at state capped a 5-4 Colfax playoff run. Overall, they finished 17-8.

Most of the team will be back next year. Nyholm, Webber and Lauri Gay are the graduating seniors.