Say what you want about the Taft High softball team’s spring-break tournament experience last month in California that resulted in five straight defeats to bigger out-of-state schools . . .

The Lady Tigers take losing to heart.

Unbeaten at 6-0 and ranked No. 1 in the state at the time, Taft has transformed the humbling encounters into a six-game winning streak Tuesday by pummeling Sheridan 30-3 and 26-0 on the road.

“Today was actually two of those games that are difficult to play in and to coach,” Taft Coach Sandy Stuart said. “We had the pleasure of being in the warm sunshine, and we were relaxed and hit well, but we had to adjust our game-play quite a bit.”

The Tigers improved to 12-5 and 6-0 in Class 3A West Valley League play by completing a postponed game that started with the score 9-3 with a 27-run five-inning victory. They then went on to defeat the Spartans by 26 runs in five frames in the second game.

Sheridan, which fell to 1-11, 0-6, allowed just 11 Taft hits, but walked 25 batters in the first game. The Tigers, who trailed 3-0 after the top of the first in the uncompleted game, scored nine runs in the bottom of the inning and 11 in the third to roll to the victory.

“It’s hard when the girls are hitting well and wanting to run the bases and you want to encourage their excitement, but also have to remember that there are nine other girls out on the field working hard and struggling,” Stuart said. “We did our best to play and be a classy team through both shortened games.”

Senior third baseman Naomi Rini and sophomore catcher Hailee Danneker had five RBIs apiece in the opener. Winning sophomore pitcher Emma Coulter and senior centerfielder Alyssa Tanksley had three RBIS each.

Outfielder Kyla Knott scored five runs, and fellow freshmen shortstop Claira Tolan and second baseman Kayla Lininger four runs each. All 10 players crossed home plate at least once for the Tigers.

The Spartans walked 15 in the second game, and Taft collected 17 hits as Coulter won again in the circle with a two-hitter and went 4-for-4 with four RBIs at the plate.

Knott, Rini and Denneker joined senior Madison Clanton and junior Lilly Salsbery with three RBIs each for the Tigers, who scored six runs in the first inning, seven in the third and eight in the fourth. Tanksley and freshman Makena Cole had two RBIS each.

All 10 players scored again for Taft, led by Rini with four runs. Knott, Coulter, Tanksley and Cole scored three times apiece.

Fourth-ranked Taft is at seventh-rated Clatskanie (14-2, 3-1 3A Lewis & Clark) at 4:30 p.m. Thursday. The Tigers host a noon doubleheader Saturday against Colton (5-6, 2-1 3A PacWest).

Taft 30, Sheridan 3

SHERIDAN         AB  R  H BI
S Elston                3  1  1  0
A Miller                 2  0  0  0
Z Pacheco             3  0  0  0
M Wofford             2  1  0  0
M Boekhoff            2  1  0  0
M Medina              2  0  1  1
S Olson                2  0  0  0
E Rech                 2  0  1  0
M Mehr                2  0  0  0
Lilly Salsbery        1  1  0  1
TOTALS             20  3  3  1

TAFT                     AB  R  H BI
Kyla  Knott              3  5  1  2
Naomi  Rini             3  3  1  5
Hailee  Danneker     3  2  2  5
Emma Coulter         3  3  2  3
Alyssa  Tanksley      3  3  2  3
Claira Tolan            3  4  2  0
Kayla Lininger         1  4  0  0
Makena Cole           2  3  1  1
Madison  Clanton    2  2  0  1
TOTALS               24 30 11 21

SHERIDAN                     300 00 — 3
TAFT                         93(11) 7x — 30

LOB–SHERIDAN 4, TAFT 10. ERR–E Rech (2), S Olson, A Miller, Kayla Lininger, Claira Tolan. 2B–Claira Tolan, Emma Coulter. 3B–Alyssa  Tanksley. HBP–Madison  Clanton, Makena Cole, Claira Tolan. SB–Naomi  Rini, Hailee  Danneker, Claira Tolan.

SHERIDAN                        IP    H    R   ER   BB   SO   HR
A Miller                            4.00   11   28   15   25    2    0
TAFT
Emma Coulter                   5.00    3    3    0    2    8    0
PB–S Olson (8). WP–A Miller. BB–M Wofford, A Miller, Naomi  Rini (3), Knott (3), Kayla Lininger (5), Madison  Clanton, Makena Cole(2), Hailee  Danneker (3), Alyssa  Tanksley (3), Claira Tolan (2), Emma Coulter (3).

Taft 26, Sheridan 0

TAFT                     AB  R  H BI 
Kyla  Knott             4  3  1  3
Naomi  Rini            3  4  2  3
Hailee  Danneker    5  2  2  3
Emma Coulter        4  3  4  4
Alyssa  Tanksley     3  3  2  2
Claira Tolan            2  2  2  0
McKenzie Evenson   2  2  1  1
Makena Cole           2  3  1  2
Madison  Clanton    1  2  1  3
Lilly Salsbery          3  2  1  3
TOTALS              29 26 17 24 

SHERIDAN             AB  R  H BI
S Elston                 3  0  1  0
E Ayala                  2  0  0  0
M Mehr                 2  0  0  0
M Wofford             2  0  0  0
M Boekhoff            2  0  0  0
E Rech                 2  0  1  0
S Olson               1  0  0  0
A Hermens          1  0  0  0
Gaurdiola             2  0  0  0
TOTALS               17  0  2  0

TAFT                         617 84 — 26
SHERIDAN                 000 00 — 0

LOB–TAFT 9, SHERIDAN 4. ERR–Naomi  Rini, E Rech, M Mehr, E Ayala. 2B–Lilly Salsbery, Emma Coulter. 3B—Alyssa Tanksley, Emma Coulter. HBP–Madison  Clanton, Makena Cole, Hailee Danneker. SACF–Madison  Clanton, Alyssa Tanksley. SB–Madison Clanton.

TAFT                            IP    H    R   ER   BB   SO   HR
Emma Coulter                      5    2    0    0    2    8    0
SHERIDAN
S Olson                           5   17   26   23   15    0    0
PB–M Wofford (5). BB–Lilly Salsbery (2), Naomi  Rini (3), Kyla  Knott (2), Madison  Clanton (2), Makena Cole (2), Alyssa  Tanksley, McKenzie Evenson, EmmaCoulter (2), S Olson, A Hermens.

Taft roster/schedule
Class 3A West Valley League standings
Class 3A OSAA rankings