4/17/26

(Chehalis, WA) For the first time in two weeks, the Tumwater Thunderbirds would finally take the field for high school softball action after Spring Break and rain kept them off the field for an extended period of time. They would be thrust right into league play as they visited the new Evergreen 2A leaders in the WF West Bearcats, who would be on the opposite side of that fence as they were playing their third game in as many days.

Tumwater started league play 0-2 but back-to-back wins had the T-Birds back in the mix in a wide-open league. A new era of T-Bird softball was going through some growing pains but Tumwater has definitely found their stride. WF West entered the season with an extremely young roster that has flourished behind fantastic pitching and high-level defense. Pitching and defense would once again be the story for the Bearcats on Friday night.

WF West 2, Tumwater 0

With how this game ended up going, the first couple of batters will be looked back on for terrific defensive plays. Kendra Schiley led off the game with a line drive to left that looked like it would get the T-Birds started on a high note. Instead, Brooklyn Spencer came in on it and made a diving catch to take away the hit and turn it into the first out. Megan Barrett followed with solid contact on a hard grounder to third. The ball was bobbled by Karlee Coleman, but she stuck with it to make the play for the second out. The defense for WF West was clearly locked in early with two plays that ended up being bigger than anyone would have thought.

While Taylor Tobin was off to a tremendous start, Sarah Stevens was also rolling after an early hiccup. The junior walked Avery Osborn to begin her outing before a couple of strikeouts and a groundout erased the first baserunner of the game. She would also walk Kenley Fragner in the 2nd, but as the Bearcat catcher tried to steal a base, Brielle Womach made a perfect throw to second to cut her down and keep all zeros on the board thru two.

Taylor Tobin struck out the side in the 3rd and WF West would get the first hit of the game in the home half as Avery Osborn singled with two outs. She was left stranded at second however as both Tobin and Stevens had shutouts into the 4th.

Another quick inning for Tobin was followed by the Bearcats finally getting some runs on the board. A leadoff single by Karlee Coleman was followed by a perfect bunt single for Gracie Elam and after she beat out the throw, Coleman would beat a throw to third and allowed Elam to reach second. With runners on second and third, Allie Smitherman came to the plate and shot a base hit back up the middle to score Coleman and make it 1-0. Kenley Fragner laid down a safety squeeze and while she was thrown out, Elam slid home safely to add on another run to give WF West a 2-0 lead.

Tumwater had solid contact in the 5th but two fly balls were handled by Smitherman in center and a line drive to right was gloved by Tanner Tobin. Even a bunt attempt by Chloe Foos in the 6th couldn’t get anything going for the T-Birds but they wouldn’t let their deficit grow either. A two-out double by Rayah Middleton in the 5th was erased after Karlee Coleman hit a line drive off the glove of Sophie Skillman at first. The ball rolled to Chloe Foos at second who picked it up and beat Coleman to first to end that inning.

Friday night was just Taylor Tobin’s night and after a couple of great defensive plays to start the game, the junior took over and dominated after that. She was so locked in that head coach Kevin Zylstra pinch hit for her in the 6th to keep her focus on the 7th and more history. She would take the circle in the 7th inning and instead of just trying to finish the game off herself, stuck with her gameplan and threw well located strikes to make the T-Birds swing the bats.

Kendra Schiley would pop out to Gracie Elam at first for the first out. A Megan Barrett grounder to third was taken care of by Karlee Coleman. With just one out remaining, Taylor Tobin had no time to even think about overthinking about the final batter. Her first pitch to Cassie McCartney was hit hard over on the right side of the infield. The game started with tremendous defense and ended the same way. Gracie Elam was there to glove the hard it ball to put this one in the history books. For the second time this season, Taylor Tobin spun a perfect game and this time it was in a 2-0 win over perennial power Tumwater.

It was a no-brainer as to who would be our Thorbeckes MVP of the game. Taylor Tobin was perfect but did it in her own unique way. While she can pile up the strikeouts and do it herself (see her first perfect game of the year), she attacked the zone and always trusts her defense to make plays. She had moments where she did take over and just dominate, but the whole mindset was to make Tumwater beat her and her defense at the same time. Any pitcher would do anything for one perfect game in their lives. Taylor Tobin now has two in this season alone.

WF West moves to 9-2 on the season and 8-1 in Evergreen 2A play which is good for first place in the league. The Bearcats will finally get a breather with the weekend off before visiting Shelton on Monday at 4:30pm. Tumwater drops to 5-4 and 2-3 in league play after their long layoff. The T-Bird will be right back in action on Monday as well when they host Centralia.

Notable Performances

Tumwater

WF West

• Taylor Tobin- 7 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 7 SO, 1 Perfect Game
• Kenley Fragner- 1-2, RBI, BB
• Allie Smitherman- 1-3, RBI

Link to watch full game replay on the NFHS Network (subscription required)

ESN Postgame Show

Highlights

Bearcats Score First

Foos Defensive Highlight

Tobin Completes Perfect Game

elisportsnetwork.com