It’s been a season of dominance for the West Valley softball team.
The Eagles earned the No. 1 seed in the Northern Section Division III playoffs after posting a 25-2 regular season record, but on Thursday, May 21, West Valley was set to face a familiar foe in No. 2 Lassen.
In the first matchup between the two schools on April 17, it took the Eagles extra innings to defeat the Grizzlies (21-8). The second time they met on May 5, Lassen handed West Valley its second loss of the season. Both games were decided by one run.
The Grizzlies also sent the Eagles home in the NSCIF playoffs a year ago, but West Valley wasn’t going to let that happen again. With a trip to the section championship game on the line, the Eagles stood tall and slugged their way to an 8-1 victory over Lassen.
“It was a phenomenal effort by the girls,” Eagles manager Jeff Kuwahara said. “You couldn’t ask for a better group of girls. They play for each other, they play the game right, and they came to the yard and just wanted it.”
From start to finish, it was an all-around solid game for the Eagles on both sides of the diamond.
West Valley’s offense racked up seven hits from five different players, and the defense only committed two errors.
“We came out hitting like we were supposed to,” senior standout Aubree Wertz said. “A lot of the time, if we don’t start off hitting (well), it’s hard to get going, but I think we came with the energy that we needed and we put the hits together when we needed to.”
But, on a team full of senior stars like Wertz, it was the underclassmen who really stepped up.
The Eagles and Grizzlies were knotted at one heading into the bottom of the third. Senior Madison Pemberton notched an RBI single to take the lead, but it was freshman Adelinn Carter who broke the game open with a three RBI double.
The next inning, sophomore Coral Tozer crushed a solo home run to give the Eagles a 6-1 lead.
“(We) just kept the momentum going for the rest of the game,” Wertz said. “It’s hard for another team to come back from that.”
With a steaming hot offense and a lethal combination of Wertz and senior Cadynce Gippner on the mound, a Lassen comeback seemed nearly impossible.
Gippner pitched the first three innings, only giving up two hits and one run, and Wertz handled the final four innings, giving up three hits and no runs.
“You couldn’t ask for a better one-two punch,” Kuwahara said. “(Wertz and Gippner) are equally dominant in their own way. They complement each other, and they work well as a tandem.”
The relationship between Wertz and Gippner only fuels their dominance on the mound.
“I’ve been playing with her a long time, and I think we do really well together, especially against teams that have already seen us three times,” Wertz said. “She’s my best friend in real life, too, so it really helps there.”
Wertz handled the bulk of the pitching duties this year. In 105.2 innings pitched this year, Wertz owns a 1.92 ERA with 77 strikeouts. Gippner pitched 54.2 innings and recorded 34 strikeouts.
With the win, West Valley advanced and will host the Division III title game at 2 p.m. on Saturday, May 23. Their opponent has not yet been determined.
Wertz and Gippner were freshmen when West Valley won its last section title back in 2023. Now, as seniors, the duo is looking to bring another one home.
“It means a lot and it’s a good way to close out high school, and I think we deserve to be here,” Wertz said. “Everyone works together really well, puts hits together, plays together, better than we ever had, and it keeps some momentum and the energy going all the time.”
Brett Abrams is a sports reporter for the Record Searchlight/USA Today Network. He covers high school and local sports in the Redding area. Reach out to Brett with any sports tips or news on X (formerly Twitter) @brabrams_ or by email at Brett.Abrams@Redding.com. To support and sustain this work, please subscribe today. Thank you.
This article originally appeared on Redding Record Searchlight: West Valley softball defeats Lassen, advances to NSCIF title game
Reporting by Brett Abrams, Redding Record Searchlight / Redding Record Searchlight
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