THURSTON — The Thurston softball team advanced to the quarterfinals of 5A softball playoffs for the first time since 2014, downing the West Albany Bulldogs 15-13 in a walk-off win after rallying from a 3-run deficit.
“They never gave up and that’s been their MO all year long,’ said head coach Jeff Litle. “No matter what, they find a way to come through. There’s no big lead that they can overcome. They just find it within themselves.”
It’s been an impressive season for the Colts, who have sustained an all-state level performance consistently all season. In addition, the team has maintained a No. 2 ranking. Before this year, the Colts had struggled to advance in the playoffs and survive in the top 10. The victory also slashed the Bulldog’s three-year winning streak against the Colts, where they’ve gone 3-0 in the regular season.
The Bulldogs took the lead early when they tallied 6 runs at the top of the first and second innings.
“I knew this was going to be a tough opponent for the first round,” said Litle. “We played these guys earlier this season, and they beat us. Every time we’ve played them, we’ve had to really battle. They’re a good ball club; they’re very well coached. I expected it to be a fight.”
The Colts then tied the score in the bottom of the fourth inning after a series of singles by Kasey Ogan, Gabriella Montes, Kendall Miller, and Daphnie Heckel.
“I’m not afraid at any point of who’s coming up to bat, ” said Litle about the team’s batting performances. ” At this point, I think we’ve got four or five girls that have over 20 RBIs for the season. We can hit the ball one through nine. We can hit the ball and make things happen.”
The Colts then snatched back the lead 11-6 in the bottom of the fifth inning after Syren Ferguson made a triple and scored several baserunners. However, at the top bottom of the sixth, the Bulldogs rallied with 3 runs to tie the score once again. The Bulldogs and Colts soon found themselves in a scoring pendulum and it was a race to a nail-biter finish.
The Colts finally sealed the deal at the bottom of the seventh. Down 13-11, Montes, first in line, singled on a fly ball to the right field. She then advanced to third after Ferguson hit a ground ball and reached first on an error by the Bulldogs’ first baseman. Miller then singled, scoring Montes and advancing Ferguson to second.
Heckel then electrified the stands when she came to the plate and earned the walk-off win with a home run. They recorded 4 runs overall.
“It felt really great,” said Heckel about the walk-off. “Earning that from our first playoff game at home and having that be in history, it’s pretty awesome.”
Up next, the Colts will host No. 10 Wilsonville in the quarterfinals on Friday at 5:10 p.m.
