OLYMPIA — While their own postseason hopes had already come to a halt, the Capital Cougars had an opportunity to make an impact on the Puget Sound League standings and the district tournament bracket Friday.
If Capital would have defeated Mount Tahoma at home, the Cougars would have ended the Thunderbirds’ district tournament aspirations.
Instead, Mount Tahoma spoiled Capital’s chance to play spoiler, defeating the Cougars 17-7 in six innings at Stevens Field. The Cougars couldn’t hang onto an early 6-4 lead, and defensive woes were the story again, as Capital surrendered six errors.
“It’s very disappointing,” Capital head coach Jeremy Taylor-Sparks said of the missed opportunity. “All 15 of them today needed to come here ready to play ball, and they knew that. We talked about it yesterday at practice. It’s frustrating, but it’s also a life lesson for them too. You’ve got to lace up your bootstraps, and you’ve got to come ready to play and ready to work.”
Mount Tahoma put two runs on the scoreboard before Capital got the first out in the opening frame, and Capital responded on an RBI bunt single by Mia Koong in the bottom of the first. After the T-Birds added two runs in the second, Capital stormed in front in the bottom of the second. Rayli Floe and Lola McKeone each drove in a run before Lexie Dura cleared the bases and scored on her own triple thanks to a T-Birds error. Dura let out a big yell as she touched home plate.
“I love that we bounced back after being punched in the mouth,” Taylor-Sparks said.
Capital led 6-4 after two, but the lead wouldn’t remain on the scoreboard for much longer. The T-Birds belted four hits and had three batters reach on errors in a six-run fourth inning to take a 10-6 advantage. The Cougars loaded the bases with one out in the fourth, but Dura nor Devyn Zipperer could capitalize.
Mount Tahoma continued to pour it on, dropping five runs in the fifth and two in the sixth. Untimely infield errors by Capital kept innings alive, and in the sixth, the Cougars once again couldn’t make a dent with the bases loaded. Zipperer walked with the bases loaded for the only run of the frame, but two runs would’ve extended the game into a seventh inning.
“The next thing that we have to work on is consistency. We’ve got to be consistent at the plate, we’ve got to be consistent on defense, and we’ve got to be consistent with our pitching,” Taylor-Sparks said. “We’re starting to get a good field IQ. Girls are starting to understand the game more. We just have to get back to being consistent. It’s the mental game that we’ve got to work on with all of these girls.”
Dura pitched all six innings for Capital and struck out eight batters, racking up 153 pitches. She’s handled all but seven innings in the circle for the Cougars this season. Koong finished 2 for 2 at the plate with two walks, reaching base all four times she came up to bat.
Taylor-Sparks, in his first year as head coach of the Cougars, is proud of the growth of his young team, which features only six players with fastpitch experience prior to this season. He shouted out Ashlynn O’Hara, Zipperer and Valorie Hinchman for their improvement over the course of the season, as well as McKeone for her leadership.
Capital (3-14, 3-12 Puget Sound League) has three games remaining on its schedule, starting with a non-league contest against Kentwood at home Monday and then the final PSL game against North Thurston Tuesday before closing out the season Wednesday at Black Hills. Taylor-Sparks hopes to see an increased level of mental toughness and field IQ in Capital’s final stretch of the season.
“When positive things happen, they do great. But when they get punched in the mouth even one time, they’re like, ‘I don’t know what to do with this.’ We’re trying to teach them that you’ve got to punch back,” he said. “I’ve been very happy with how the season has progressed. I know we could’ve been better, but that comes with time and work and commitment.”
Mount Tahoma’s win now sets up a PSL Narrows tiebreaker Saturday between the T-Birds and Silas, with the winner moving on to face River Ridge in a district play-in game Monday.
