For the second year in a row, the Juanita High softball team appears to be peaking at the right time.
The Rebels went on a miraculous run last season to win the 2015 3A state title following a fifth-place finish in the district tournament. This time the Rebels will defend their title as district champions.
Juanita topped KingCo rival Lake Washington 5-1 in the 3A SeaKing District II championship game on Friday at Southwest Athletic Complex for the Rebels’ third consecutive win in the crosstown rivalry.
Lisa Nelson threw another gem for Juanita (20-5), finishing with 12 strikeouts and two hits. Nelson has struck out 10 or more batters in her last five games, and struck out 56 batters in her last four outings, apparently recovered from a back injury which slowed the senior starter early in the season.
Nelson gets Bivens swinging! Juanita beats Lake Washington 5-1 for the district title. pic.twitter.com/77iiBLoIAi
— John William Howard (@JowardHoward) May 21, 2016
“I feel really good,” Nelson said. “Every year toward the postseason I ramp it up a little bit, so I’m really excited that I’m playing so well and my team is playing so well going into state.”
Unlike the two of the last three games, Juanta didn’t need a late rally to win. Brynn Radke doubled to lead off the top of the first, and Kristina Warford took the first pitch from Lake Washington’s Tori Bivens and sent it over the center field fence.
The Rebels led Lake Washington (21-5) wire-to-wire, adding runs in the fifth, sixth and seventh innings.
“That was, I just told them, the best game they’ve played all season,” Juanita coach Traci Odegard said. “They were just hitting the ball hard, and that first inning set the tone, I think. We had a couple down innings, but they just kept rolling with it.”
Nelson said it was a welcome relief to pitch with a lead, but for Lake Washington, the quick score came as a bit of a shock.
“It really set back the energy there,” Lake Washington coach Traci Tawney said. “It’s something we just talked about. They were on [Bivens] both inside and outside, and it wasn’t until she adjusted up in the zone some more and with some changeups that she started having some success against them.”
Bivens finished with seven strikeouts and nine hits, also hitting the Kangs’ lone RBI of the evening in the bottom of the second inning. Juanita has seen Bivens four times as a starter this season and once in relief, and with the Rebels gearing up for the postseason, the margin for error is small.
“She’s one of the best pitchers in the state and we’re going to see more pitchers like her at state, but she’s hard to hit off of,” Odegard said. “Our girls have been working all season for it, and they definitely came through tonight.”
Tawney said the experience was good for the junior pitcher, who has hardly needed to pitch from behind all year long.
“I think she’s so amped up that she’s getting in her own way a little bit,” Tawney said. “When you’ve got so much energy flowing with that intensity, sometimes what you want to break and move isn’t there. It’s hard to channel that energy and stay loose.”
Warford and Briar Swayne both went 2-3 with two RBIs for Juanita, while Jordan Schroeder went 1-4 with one RBI.
Bivens and Marissa Ewald had the only hits for Lake Washington, both coming in the bottom of the second inning.
Next, for both teams, is the Class 3A state tournament in Lacey. The tournament begins on Friday, May 27, and wraps up on Saturday, May 28. First-round pairings will be posted when released by the WIAA.
