Stag Softball Snags Second-Place State Trophy

The Deer Park High School athletics trophy case gained a new piece of hardware as the Lady Stags slow pitch softball team brought home the second place trophy from the 2A/3A state tournament at Kiwanis Fields in Yakima on Oct. 24. The Lady Stags broke the silence of an early 9 a.m. start on Oct. 23 with a 29-run outburst in their opener against Columbia River from Vancouver. Jillian Marshall swung the loudest stick, hitting for the cycle (single, double, triple, and home run in the same game), ending with five hits, five runs scored, and 10 driven in. Leadoff hitter Gracie Bircher had five hits, and Hailey Thompson scored five runs with three hits, including a triple with three runs driven in. Kapri Bailey scored four times on two hits with four runs driven in. Lexi Piper tripled twice and drove in a pair with three hits on the game. Maleah Palmer scored two runs while col- lecting three hits including a triple. Makenzie Reynolds had three hits with a double. Lyla Shaler and Lola Durgin each had two hits, and Makenzie Palmer scored twice

The semi-final round was a third matchup of the fall sea- son with Ridgeline from Liberty Lake. Deer Park was able to fend off a seventh-inning Falcons rally to advance to the championship game 10-8. Marshall made back-to-back, two-homer efforts and added a double, while driving in six and scoring three times. Reynolds doubled twice and had three hits. Thompson and Bailey each had two hits and combined to score five runs. Keziah Callaham added a pair of hits. In the title game against league rival Mt. Spokane, Deer Park loaded the bases in the second and fourth innings, but could not push across any runs, falling 12-2. Bailey had three hits and Maleah Palmer had two.