The Taft High softball team has been relegated to at-large status and a road game in next week’s State tournament following an 8-0 West Valley League playoff loss Friday to Amity at Dayton High School.
The Warriors (14-9, 7-3) fell Friday night to the conference champion Dayton Pirates (19-8, 9-1) for the league’s top seed in the 16-team Class 3A State Softball Championships, which begin Wednesday.
The OSAA is expected to announce the State pairings at approximately 10 p.m. Saturday.
“We have some sort of mental block when it comes to Amity,” Taft coach Sandy Stuart said. “We shut ourselves down before we even step up to the plate. We hit so well this week in practice, but could not bring that in to the game today.”
Taft senior Naomi Rini and sophomore starting pitcher Emma Coulter had the Tigers’ only hits, both singles.
“We have good swings and we know we can hit the ball solid,” Stuart said. “The part where we are lacking right now is the mental side. As a coaching staff, we are just going to do our best to motivate them and make them believe that they can hit any pitcher out there. We have been strong offensively, so we will focus on that.”
Second-place Taft (17-10, 8-2) defeated the third-place Warriors 4-3 at home in regular-season play on April 5, but lost 5-4 at Amity on May 1.
“We are confident, but we are young still,” Stuart said. “Some of the underclassmen haven’t had this feeling before. The postseason doesn’t seem real to them yet. The seniors were a part of the Tournament two years ago, so they are excited and they want it bad. My hope is that the team can come to a common goal and they can work hard to play well and win — not just for themselves, but for their teammates, as well.”
Coulter struck out eight, but surrendered 12 hits as the Warriors scored three runs in the first, four in the third and one in the fifth.
“Today was the first time since California [spring break tournament, where the Tigers went 0-5] that our offense was shutout,” Stuart said. “We have always managed to score runs regardless of the pitcher or opponent, but this was different.”
Senior right-hander Brittnie Brown got the win in the circle for the Warriors.
We made some solid contact, but it just happened to be right at defenders all game long,” Stuart said. “We had two hits all game, while they made adjustments on their end and had quite a few hits to the gaps.”
“It was a tough one to lose because we all wanted it so bad. Now, we are going to see what happens with the standings tomorrow and see where we will be headed next week. We have to push on and start over with a new season. We will get new teams and a new shot at something special.”
Amity 8, Taft 0
AMITY AB R H BI
Keeley Graham 5 0 0 0
Brennae Huskey 4 1 1 0
Gabby Rolston 2 2 1 1
Morgan Croxford 4 1 3 0
Breaha Wright 4 2 1 3
Callee Roberts 3 2 3 2
Gracee Wright 4 0 2 2
Brittnie Brown 3 0 1 0
Kira Hand 4 0 0 0
Claira Tolan 3 0 0 0
Kayla Lininger 2 0 0 0
TOTALS 33 8 12 8
TAFT AB R H BI
Kyla Knott 3 0 0 0
Naomi Rini 3 0 1 0
Hailee Danneker 2 0 0 0
Emma Coulter 3 0 1 0
Alyssa Tanksley 3 0 0 0
Makena Cole 1 0 0 0
Madison Clanton 0 0 0 0
Corey VanDamme 2 0 0 0
McKenzie Evenson 1 0 0 0
TOTALS 23 0 2 0
AMITY 304 010 0 — 8
TAFT 000 000 0 — 0
LOB–AMITY 9, TAFT 5. ERR–Kayla Lininger, Corey VanDamme. 2B–Morgan Croxford, Gracee Wright, Gabby Rolston, Callee Roberts. 3B–Callee Roberts. HBP–Callee Roberts,Hailee Danneker.
AMITY IP H R ER BB SO HR
Brittnie Brown 7.00 2 0 0 2 4 0
TAFT
Emma Coulter 7.00 12 8 6 4 5 0
PB–Hailee Danneker. BB–Gabby Rolston (2), Brennae Huskey, Brittnie Brown, Madison Clanton (2).
PHOTOS BY ERIC DEMELLO
