Auburn Riverside swings way to 4A state berth against Federal Way

Auburn Riverside girls’ softball team clinched a berth to the 4A state tournament for the first time in over a decade, as they cruised to a win against Federal Way 16-7 on Saturday in the 4A West Central/Southwest bi-district tournament.

Bryce Stand, the fifth year head coach of the Ravens stressed the importance of this game calling it the biggest win of his career.

“It feels good,” Stand said. “This is year five and we’ve won more games every year as we’ve gone along and that was our goal at the beginning of the year. We have a lot of ball left, were certainly not going to be content but this is a real big moment for our program.”

The Ravens baseball bats were awoken early as they scored 9 of their 16 runs throughout the first and second innings of the game.

Not only did they perform well on the offensive end, but defensively they made it tough for the hitters to get in a rhythm. That disruption all starts with their Soph. pitcher Autumn Lee. Although she has two years’ experience, her talent and composure on the pitching mound makes her look like a seasoned vet.

Lee was quick to point out that having a good supporting cast makes her job a lot less difficult.

“It makes it so easy,” Lee said. “Having a good offense behind you and defense behind you is a game changer.”

Lee played all seven innings of the game and carried the team without even showing a hint of emotion on her face. She struck out five hitters while only allowing two walks.

Coach Stand chalked up her success to the countless work she put in over the course of the season.

“She’s a work horse.” Stand said. “That’s the only way to describe her.

She pitches a lot for us but she doesn’t pitch much in the summer anymore so she’s had to really work at it this year and she came through huge for us.”

Heading to state as a sophomore pitcher is obviously a huge accomplishment and with two more years under her belt after this season, Lee is not taking this moment for granted.

“I want to learn as much as I can.” Lee said. “I just want to see what the competition is like and have fun.”　　　

This story was originally published May 20, 2017 at 10:17 PM with the headline "Auburn Riverside swings way to 4A state berth against Federal Way."