Colfax survives early scare, qualifying for State

COLFAX - The Colfax girls softball team went through early adversity Saturday, May 20 during the district championship game. They would lose the game 2-1 against Northwest Christian, but headed to a loser-out and winner-to-state game against Liberty, where the Bulldogs would shine once again.

The victory over Liberty secured the Bulldogs a place in the state tournament, set to start Friday, May 26 and end Saturday, May 27.

The first game saw the Bulldogs and Northwest Christian scoreless until the seventh inning when both team would score all their runs.

The Crusaders scored two quick runs in the inning to break the scoreless deadlock. Colfax would respond with a single run, but could not produce the tying or winning run in the last inning, and they lost the district championship game 2-1.

In the game, the Bulldogs offense produced only two hits. Devan Becker and Ava Swan were the only Bulldogs with hits in the game. The Bulldogs were also struck out eight times in the game, and only walked once.

The pitching for the Bulldogs was solid. Delaney Imler pitched all seven innings and only allowed the two runs on three hits. She walked three batters and struck out another six.

The loss against the Crusaders meant the Bulldogs now head to a loser-out, winner-to-state game later in the day. The game was played against the Liberty Lancers, a team the Bulldogs are very familiar and comfortable with. This season, the Bulldogs played the Lancers three times, winning two of them.

This was the fourth match up between the teams on the season, and the Bulldogs had the Lancers strategy figured out early.

Colfax scored at least two runs in each inning in the game, including four in the bottom of the second. The game was stopped after five innings as the Bulldogs were ahead by 10 or more runs, they would win the game 11-0.

In the game, Colfax would produce eight hits for their 11 runs. Harper Booth led the team with two hits and three RBIs in the game. Karmen Akesson had two RBIs in the game as well, she would also walk once in the game.

Imler pitched all five innings again for the Bulldogs. She allowed two hits for no runs and struck out eight batters. Imler would also walk zero batters in the game.

With the win against Liberty, the Bulldogs secured the #8 overall seed in the 2B State Tournament. Their run for the state championship starts Friday, May 26 as they will take on the #9 seed Raymond-South Bend. The winner of that game then takes on the #1 overall seed Adna Pirates later in the day Friday.

The game against Raymond-South Bend is a loser-out game. Colfax will need to win if they want to keep their playoff hopes alive. After the first round, the playoff goes into a double-elimination style bracket, where losing teams can still play for a chance to grab third place in the tournament.