Coach Scott Harris offered a huge “thank you” on behalf of the Lady Vikings to the Orcas community for raising $2,000 in two days, enabling the Vikings to compete in the state softball playoffs in Yakima, Wash., May 26.

Harris said there are four important factors you need to succeed in the state playoffs: the skills your team has, the draw you get, the experience you bring and luck. Harris was confident in the skills of his young team, but when matched against the heavily favored Napavine Tigers in the first of two games, Harris knew having only one out of four factors meant a “big challenge.” Harris was right as the Vikings lost both games against the Tigers and the Brewster Bears.

The underdog Vikings initially fought hard against the Tigers keeping the score manageable by the end of the third inning 6-0 , but the Viking’s youth and inexperience was eventually exposed against what Harris called “the strongest team we had met this year.” The onslaught of hard Tiger hits triggered eight Viking fielding errors in the fourth inning, helping the Tigers score six runs, stretching the score to 12-0. With the Vikings unable to string hits together to score runs against the unrelenting Tigers, the ten run rule was applied in the fifth inning ended the game 21-0.

Freshly bruised with playoff experience, the Vikings then faced the Brewster Bears in game two. Stumbling in the first inning with three fielding errors, the Vikings gave up three runs to the hard hitting Bears, leaving Orcas behind 3-0. Poised and adjusting to the speed of power teams, the Vikings began to play better and scored their first runs of the playoffs in the fifth inning. On base due to a walk, Bella Nigretto scored on an Aliviah Garcia’s double followed by an RBI single by Kirsten Fowler scoring the second Viking run of the day. In the sixth inning, Alicia Jo Susol singled with Huxley Smart pinch running and eventually stealing third base. A Nigretto RBI double brought home Smart for the Viking’s third and final run of the day. Despite finally adjusting to powerful hitting teams at the state level, the Vikings lost 9-3 in seven innings.

Harris commented that “we showed our youth, but kept battling in both games which developed mental toughness.”

Harris was very proud of his young team’s performance since he felt this was one of the most talented state tournaments he has seen in years.