After surviving a late-game thriller to begin a four-win week, Woodland High School softball coach Tom Christensen believes the Beavers are gaining valuable experience at the perfect time as postseason play begins.
The Beavers survived late game heroics by the Hockinson Hawks to win 11-9 in extra innings on Monday, May 4, in a crucial 2A Greater St. Helens League matchup. Woodland went on to beat the Toledo Riverhawks 14-4 on Tuesday, May 5, in a non-league matchup. On Wednesday, May 6, the Beavers beat the Washougal Panthers 15-5 to conclude league play before a 19-1 win over La Center High School in a non-league matchup on Friday, May 8.
With the 2A District 4 softball tournament this week, Christensen said on May 4 that the tight contest can help prepare Woodland for the pressure of postseason softball.
“It’s good, actually. Good to have tight games and games where you’re tied and pressure’s on,” Christensen said. “So it’s a good warm-up for districts.”
As Woodland prepares for districts, Christensen said the Beavers are continuing to sharpen key areas while building confidence offensively.
“We need to tighten up our defense a little bit, so we will be working on that,” he said. “And then I think our offensive approach has been really good. We’ve been aggressive and smarter hitting, … and just tightening up the defense, I think, is the biggest thing.”
Heading into districts, Christensen said Woodland’s confidence comes from competing in one of the toughest leagues in 2A. The WIAA RPI rankings have two 2A GSHL opponents ranked in the top five in the classification: Mark Morris High School at No. 1 and Ridgefield High School at No. 5.
“The cool thing about this team is we could beat anybody,” Christensen said. “... I think on any given day, we could hang with anybody.”
The Woodland Beavers earned the fourth seed out of the 2A GSHL for the district tournament. The Beavers’ postseason journey begins at 3:30 p.m. on Thursday, May 14, against the Evergreen Conference No. 1 seed: W.F. West High School. A win sends the Beavers to a game against the winner of Ridgefield versus Hockinson/Tumwater the same day at 5:30 p.m. A loss sends the Beavers to the loser of Ridgefield versus Hockinson/Tumwater, also the same day at 5:30 p.m.
For the Hockinson Hawks, after a rebounding 19-3 win over Hudson’s Bay High School on May 6, the Hawks lost a tiebreaker with R.A. Long, 17-12, on Friday, May 8.
The tiebreaker loss landed the Hawks in sixth place in the 2A GSHL, leading to a loser-out pigtail round game on the road against Tumwater High School on Tuesday, May 12, but results were unavailable as of press time. A win in the pigtail round sends the Hawks to play Ridgefield High School on Thursday, May 14, at Recreation Park in Chehalis at 3:30 p.m.
