EUGENE — In its first state appearance in program history, the Thurston softball team was taken down by the Ridgeview Ravens in Redmond in a 9-0 shutout at Jane Saunders Stadium Saturday night. The veteran Ravens, who sealed their season 26-1, added a second 5A title trophy to the case among the 2019 title.
“I look forward to the future,” head coach Jeff Litle said about earning state-runner up and recording their first appearance in the program. “What a great group of kids. Though, I’m really disappointed for my seniors, because they’ve had a heck of a career. Obviously this is not the outcome we wanted today. We didn’t play our best game for sure. So that’s disappointing, but you know, you can’t win them all. We will regroup and be ready for next year.”
It was a tough game for Thurston, who struggled defensively with missed catches and miscommunications. In addition, the Colts found trouble on the offense, recording only 3 hits. The Ravens recorded 10. They also witnessed the Ravens take an early lead with an explosive 5-run second inning.
“We just couldn’t get any solid contact,” said Litle. “And when we did, we couldn’t continue it. It’s unfortunate that it happened, but it is what it is.”
Despite the disappointment and the fresh sting of loss, Litle hopes that the momentum of the historic success of this season will carry into next year by setting a new expectation.
“It sets the expectations high,” he said. “The groups coming after this group can say, ‘Hey, that group got it done. We can get there too.’ It sets lofty expectations for everybody. Because now we’ve been here. Now we’ve got to try to get ourselves back here again and do our thing.”
