BONNEY LAKE FASTPITCH: Panthers pick up No. 3 seed into WCD fastpitch tournament

Published 4:30 pm Monday, May 17, 2010

A resilient Bonney Lake fastpitch squad that has battled adversity from every direction all season long entered the subdistrict 3A softball tournament, staged at Enumclaw’s Boise Creek Sixplex, seeded as the No. 2 team from the competitive South Puget Sound League 3A picture.

The Panthers now advance to this weekend’s West Central District tournament at the Sprinker Recreation Center as the No. 3 seed among the nine berths to come out of the SPSL 3A/Seamount 3A subdistrict event.

The Panthers’ first game will come at noon Friday against the Southwest League’s Camas High Papermakers, who have been regular attendees of the district’s big show the past four years.

In its subdistrict opener Friday, Bonney Lake was edged 5-4 by Mount Rainier High.

“I think we were a little antsy as we didn’t show much discipline as a team by swinging at lousy pitches and making three errors, Panther skipper Andrew Sage said.

Regardless of how the black and teal played Friday, the Panthers certainly redeemed themselves the next day.

Bonney Lake soundly throttled Kennedy Catholic Saturday afternoon, burying the Lancers 12-2 in an abridged encounter that was shortened by the 10-rule rule.

“I was proud of the way that the girls responded to our losing effort against Mount Rainier by winning on Saturday,” Sage said.

The top five batters in the BLHS lineup went 9-for-16 at the dish and Panther pitcher Rendi Johnson threw strikes.

The Panthers were led by the Courneya sisters, Kim and Jacqui, who combined to go 6 for 7 from the plate.