A year ago, the Taft High softball team entered spring break tournament play highly ranked but hobbled home highly humbled.
This time, the Tigers turned the tables with a doubleheader sweep Monday and a split Tuesday for a 3-1 showing that might transition into another memorable “vacation.”
Taft, which defeated the No. 1-ranked team in the state in Cascade Christian and former league rival Amity on Monday, downed Butte Falls/Crater Lake Charter Academy 21-5 in Tuesday’s opener before falling to third-ranked South Umpqua 2-0 in the second game.
“We walk away feeling good about the two days,” Taft coach Sandy Stuart said. “We are young, but we are getting better and better and gaining confidence quickly.”
Last season at this time, the Tigers entered a spring break tournament against bigger schools in Napa, Calif., unbeaten at 6-0 and ranked No. 1 in the state, but stumbled home two days later with five straight defeats and their tail between their legs.
Stuart looked at the experience as an awakening for a team that would go on to the Class 3A State tournament quarterfinals by winning six straight, eight of their next nine and 11 of their final 16 games.
Think, then, of what Monday’s result might mean . . .
The doubleheader split moved Special District 1 Taft to 5-2 this season. Butte Falls of the Class 2A Southern Cascade League fell to 1-4 and 3A South Umpqua to 7-1 with its seven straight victory.
Taft needed just three hits in its rout of Butte Falls, which used six pitchers who walked 22 hitters and threw 12 wild pitches in falling to the Tigers in the opener. Junior catcher Hailee Dannekar hit her second home run in as many games and starting junior pitcher Emma Coulter had the Tigers’ other two hits.
“The game against Butte Falls was not very effective for us,” Stuart said. “With all the walks and slow pace of the game it wasn’t one to wake us up in the morning. We had some good defensive plays and had to pull back a little bit on the base paths, but we like to treat every game as a learning experience regardless of the competition level.”
The Athletics actually outhit the Tigers, 4-3, but Stuart spent most the morning watching her players circle the base paths on free passes. The lopsided game allowed Taft to pitch freshman Lily Hatton for a couple of innings, providing a welcome break for Coulter.
“Lily did a great job coming in and staying level headed in her first varsity outing as a pitcher,” Stuart said. “It is unfortunate to have a game like that, but we were able to get all of our players in the game and see one of our young freshmen take to the circle to throw a couple of innings.”
Coulter had three RBIs and her freshman sister, Olivia, joined Danneker with two apiece. Olivia Coulter and junior Corey VanDamme scored three times each.
Stuart said the most unfortunate thing about winning big in the opener was its aftereffect on the next game.
“The first game did not put us in a good place mentally for the second game,” she said.
South Umpqua, which just dropped a classification to 3A and returns a roster packed with seniors, allowed just three hits — by freshman Addie Gates and sophomores Makena Cole and Kyla Knott — while striking out 11.
“They had a good pitcher and defense and a strong lineup,” Stuart said. “Emma pitched a great game. She threw the ball hard and was able to keep their big hitters off balance.”
Stuart pointed to steady defense for keeping the Tigers in the game.
“A few moments of miscommunication resulted in a couple of runs,” she said. “We had a few hits against their strong pitcher, and we had a great chance at one point with the bases loaded, but we were unable to make it happen. Our hits were not very timely and we hit the ball right at defenders.”
Taft returns to the diamond for three nonleague games next week before opening conference play Tuesday, April 9, at home against Rainier.
GAME 1 Taft 21, Butte Falls 5 BUTTE FALLS AB R H BI TAFT AB R H BI Jamee Byrum 1 0 0 0 Hailee Danneker 1 2 1 2 A Kirkpatrick 2 0 0 0 Kyla Knott 1 2 0 1 Adrienne Abernathe 2 2 1 0 Emma Coulter 3 2 2 3 Leanna McNabb 3 1 1 1 Claira Tolan 2 2 0 1 Joslyn Posey 2 0 1 1 Addie Gates 1 2 0 0 Sydney Welburn 2 0 0 0 Makena Cole 2 0 0 0 Klue Olson 1 1 0 0 Kayla Lininger 1 1 0 0 Lorn Schaffler 2 0 0 0 Lily Hatton 0 2 0 0 Macala Pateraeu 2 1 1 0 Olivia Coulter 0 3 0 2 Sage Teixiera 2 0 0 1 Corey VanDamme 0 3 0 1 Chloe Peterson 0 1 0 0 Lilly Salsbery 1 1 0 1 TOTALS 19 5 4 3 TOTALS 12 21 3 11 BUTTE FALLS 102 20 -- 5 TAFT 741 0x -- 21 LOB--Butte Falls 2, Taft 8. E--Kayla Lininger. 2B--Emma Coulter. 3B--Adrienne Abernathe. HR--Hailee Danneker. HBP--Lily Hatton, Olivia Coulter, Hailee Danneker, Corey VanDamme, Emma Coulter. SACF--Olivia Coulter, Hailee Danneker. SB--Leanna McNabb, Addie Gates, Corey VanDamme (2). BUTTE FALLS IP H R ER BB SO HR Joslyn Posey 0.00 1 6 5 5 0 1 Jamee Byrum 1.67 0 5 5 8 1 0 A Kirkpatrick 0.33 1 3 3 3 0 0 S Wood 0.00 0 2 2 2 0 0 Macala Pateraeu 1.00 1 5 5 4 0 0 Sydney Welburn 1.00 0 0 0 0 0 0 TAFT Emma Coulter 3.00 3 3 2 2 3 0 Lily Hatton 2.00 1 2 2 1 0 0 PB--Sage Teixiera (3), Lorn Schaffler. WP--S Wood (2), Macala Pateraeu, Jamee Byrum (5), Joslyn Posey (2), A Kirkpatrick (2), Lily Hatton, Emma Coulter (2). SO--Macala Pateraeu, Klue Olson, Sydney Welburn, Kyla Knott. BB--Joslyn Posey, Klue Olson, Adrienne Abernathe, Lilly Salsbery, Kyla Knott (4), Addie Gates (2), Kayla Lininger, Lily Hatton, Olivia Coulter (2), Hailee Danneker (2), Chloe Peterson (2), Claira Tolan (3), Corey VanDamme (3), Emma Coulter.
GAME 2 South Umpqua 2, Taft 0 TAFT AB R H BI SOUTH UMPQUA AB R H BI Hailee Danneker 2 0 0 0 H Lowell 2 1 1 0 Kyla Knott 3 0 1 0 T Kelley 4 0 1 1 Emma Coulter 3 0 0 0 S Gray 3 0 1 0 Claira Tolan 3 0 0 0 K Mann 2 0 1 1 Addie Gates 3 0 1 0 A Rudy 2 0 1 0 Kayla Lininger 3 0 0 0 S Gibson 3 0 0 0 Makena Cole 3 0 1 0 L Skeen 2 1 1 0 Olivia Coulter 3 0 0 0 A Ferguson 3 0 0 0 Chloe Peterson 0 0 0 0 A McCall 2 0 0 0 TOTALS 23 0 3 0 TOTALS 23 2 6 2 TAFT 000 000 0 -- 0 SOUTH UMPQUA 110 000 x -- 2 LOB--Taft 5, South Umpqua 9. E--L Skeen. 2B--Addie Gates, Makena Cole, T Kelley, S Gray. HBP--Hailee Danneker, A Rudy. SACB--A McCall. TAFT IP H R ER BB SO HR Emma Coulter 6.00 6 2 2 4 7 0 SOUTH UMPQUA T Kelley 7.00 3 0 0 2 11 0 PB--Hailee Danneker (2), A Rudy. WP--Emma Coulter, T Kelley. SO--Kyla Knott, Addie Gates (2), Kayla Lininger (2), Olivia Coulter (2), Makena Cole (2), Claira Tolan, Emma Coulter, K Mann, A Rudy, S Gray, L Skeen, A Ferguson, A McCall, S Gibson. BB--Chloe Peterson (2), K Mann, L Skeen, H Lowell (2).
