Nice run.

Top eight in the state, two places away from a trophy, the Thomas Jefferson Raiders lasted a long time at the 4A State Fastpitch Championships May 25-26.

Head coach Chad Fahnlander coached a good team that made very few errors all tournament long, had solid pitching, and timely hitting.

"I'm very proud of them, there is nothing to hang their heads over whatsoever," said Fahnlander.

Yes, Mountain View was a tough draw, it turned out. And the team that knocked them from state, that is, after the Raiders won a couple nailbiters against good teams in between, was Inglemoor, who has been to state six of the last seven years.

"Exactly," said Fahnlander.

The Raiders opened state by playing against Mountain View, a team that took fourth during it's Greater St. Helens league season but got hot in the playoffs and knocked perennial fastpitch 4A power Prairie (2006 state champ) out and also second place team, Battle Ground, from the playoffs. So, that is who the Raiders got in the opener and they played them tough, in fact leading against the Thunder who would go on from that first game to be second in the state.

The Raiders led 1-0 after they scored in the top of the second inning on senior Erin Fujita's single and a nice bunt by Hannah Kiyohara to move Fujita to second, followed by a Shawntay Thong blast to center field that was caught. But Fujita scored on the play.

That was it for the scoring for the Raiders, who did show a good bit of talent to manufacture a run on the team that did not allow South Puget Sound League North champ Kentlake a run in their 1-0 win against them.

That is how good this team was that the Raiders opened state playing. So, up 1-0, it looked good for the Raiders, but no more offense came from the Raiders' bats and the Thunder had one good inning coming up in the bottom of the fourth. They started off with a single lined to left field followed by a hit-by-pitch followed by a RBI single followed by a single to left followed by a nice play from Brittany Creek to scoop a grounder for a bases loaded out to Thong catching at home plate. Then, after an RBI single looper over Creek luckily made it for the foe, the next batter hit again to Creek, solid all tourney at second base, along with Kiyohara, at shortstop, and Creek threw home to get the force. But the Thunder kept pounding for one more, another blooper hit over second, to make it 3-1 after the fourth was through.

The Raiders are Jill Halvorsen, Erin Fujita, Hannah Kiyohara, Stephanie Ogle, Brittany Still, Brittany Creek, Lauren Stark, Gaby Hale, Jene Riha, Erin Dolan, Sara Byrne, Jayme Carbon, Taylor Soderberg, Cassidy Dewaele, Jessica Dickson, Shawntay Thong and Christi Bruin. Coach was Chad Fahnlander, assisted by Dana Finnegan, Leon Halvorsen and Obadiah Dunham.