By Emma Wickman
Journal intern
Softball
The Friday Harbor High School fastpitch team traveled to Stanwood High School to compete in their district tournament last Friday. The Wolverines first faced off against the Orcas Island Vikings and won 19-5. They moved on to their next game against the Concrete Lions, and the girls remained victorious and won that game 3-2. They are district champions and are advancing to the state championships in Yakima for the third year in a row.
In the Wolverines first game against the Vikings, the girls had one major inning that slammed the door on the rival island. In the fourth inning, the Wolverines put up a total of 17 runs against the Vikings. The fourth batter through the eighth batter had three at-bats in the inning.
This author, senior Emma Wickman, hit a solo home run. Senior Cady Wilson had a single to right field. Senior Lauren Ayers slapped a ball right over the third baseman’s head and turned it into a double.
The team went on to win that game 19-5 and moved on to their next game against the Concrete Lions.
This was the most intense game of the tournament, and there was never a dull moment in any of the innings.
The Lions scored two runs early on, and the Wolverines had to battle back in order to get some runs on the board.
A ground ball was hit to right field with a runner on third while the Wolverines were on the field, and sophomore Thea Seitz fielded it and threw it to the cutoff senior Hannah Hopkins. The runner on third started to go for home, and Hopkins threw the ball to sophomore catcher Ava Hoffman, who put the tag down and got the runner out and kept the score tied at 2-2.
Lauren Ayers had a double play where she caught a line drive ball and threw the runner out at first base.
The team is one of the top 16 in the state for 2B. Their first game is on Friday, May 26 at the Gateway Sports Complex at 9 a.m against Mary Walker.
Baseball
The baseball team at Friday Harbor High School had the opportunity to play in the 2B State Championship tournament last Saturday in Anacortes. It is a single elimination tournament, and unfortunately, the Wolverines lost their first and only game of the tournament to the Toutle Lake Ducks 6-3.
The Wolverines were one of the top 16 teams in the state for 2B, and it was exciting for them to be one of those 16 teams two years in a row.
Early on in the game, senior Corbin Williams bunted down the third base line and turned it into a base hit, advancing to second base on a throwing error.
Freshman Nick Herko had a single to right field that advanced a runner and put him into scoring position.
Senior Eli Cooper-West went up to bat with two outs and hit a line drive to center field for a single. Senior James Guard also had a single to left-center field.
Late in the game, the score was 5-0 and it was looking grim for the Wolverines until senior Kai Herko stepped up to the plate. He had two strikes on him with two runners on base, and he hit a towering home run to left field. The score was then 5-3 going into the later innings of the game. Despite their efforts and their play, the Wolverines came up short in the game, giving them their first and final loss of the season.
The Wolverines had one loss on their season, and it was the one to end it. They came so far and had one of the best seasons the program has had in awhile.
Track
The Friday Harbor High School track team went to Shoreline this past Saturday to compete in the D1/D2 1A Bi-District Championships. This meet determined who from what team will advance to the state championship tournament.
There are three people advancing to the state finals, and they are junior Ciera Bailey, senior Sara Rist, and freshman Kenny Hallock.
Overall, the track team placed second in both boys and girls. Boys had a combined overall score of 66, and girls had an overall combined score of 73.
Kenny Hallock placed first in the 1600 meter run, setting a personal record time of 4:52 minutes, advancing him to state.
Ciera Bailey placed first in both the 400 and 800-meter run, helping her move on to the state tournament.
Sara Rist placed first in the 600g Javelin with a score of 120-02, advancing her to the state championships.
Some other highlights from the meet were sophomore Pablo Canete de Madra placed third in both the 100 and 200-meter run, setting a personal record in the 200 meter of 24.81 seconds. Junior Nathan Porter placed second in the 110-meter hurdles (39 inch) and set a personal record with a time of 18.69 seconds. Sophomore Jaclyn Domenech placed second overall in the long jump and set a personal record of 14-00.00. Kendra Cliffton placed third in the 200-meter run, setting a season record of 29.23 seconds. Sophomore Annamarie Thomas was just behind her finishing fourth, with a time of 30.53, her new personal record.
The 1A, 2B, 1B State Championship Meet is Thursday, May 25 through Saturday, May 27 at Eastern Washington University in Cheney.
