Bonney Lake fastpitch: Panthers stay focused in hunt for district spot

The highly-regarded Bonney Lake High fastpitch team took the field Monday afternoon to play Mount Rainier, hoping to grab a top seed into the weekend’s West Central District tournament.

The highly-regarded Bonney Lake High fastpitch team took the field Monday afternoon to play Mount Rainier, hoping to grab a top seed into the weekend’s West Central District tournament.

Results were not available at press time, but will be posted at www.blscourierherald.com.

Games were being played at Sprinker Recreation Center.

Also Monday at Sprinker, Enumclaw was to play Kennedy High of the Seamount League. If Bonney Lake beat Mount Rainier, it was to play the Enumclaw-Kennedy winner to determine the district’s No. 1 and No. 2 seeds into the WCD tourney.

Bonney Lake, as it has done all year, will be riding the strong arm of pitcher Caitlin Colvin. She has registered more than 120 strikeouts heading into subdistrict play.

Offensively, the Panthers most often turn to Kim Courneya, Alex Miller, Ashley Burns and sisters Eva and Chloe Beal. Colvin is also a major factor at the plate and has a pair of home runs to her credit this season.

The Panthers are no strangers to the pressures of tournament play. A season ago, Bonney Lake earned a fourth-place trophy in the Class 3A state tournament, building a 22-10 season record.

The past week has provided a rare distraction, however, as coach Dave Loveless suddenly resigned his position; for details, see story on page C1.