(Portland, OR) – Another successful Lower Columbia College softball season came to an end with completion of the NWAC championships at Delta Park in Portland.
 
The Devils opened the tournament with one of the early upsets. LCC surprised the defending champion Mt. Hood Saints 7-3 on opening day.  Unfortunately, the team seemed to lose its mojo after that victory, dropping back-to-back games to Clackamas and Wenatchee Valley.
 
Game #1 – Lower Columbia 7 Mt. Hood 3
 
Freshman pitcher Alli Heater was outstanding as she continually worked out of jams with clutch pitching aided by solid defense. Heater scattered 10 hits. With the bases loaded on three occasions, Heater got the big out using an effective change.
 
The Devils jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the top of the first inning on a Mt. Hood error and a two-run single by Destiny Dunlap. Sawyer Stenson added an RBI single in the second and Bella Aspaas had an RBI single in the third.
 
With the explosive Saints ready to come back, the Devils got some key insurance in the 6^th inning on an Emily Panush RBI double and a Sunny Bennion run scoring single.
 
Game #2 – Clackamas 11 Lower Columbia 4
 
The defense let down in a second game loss to Clackamas.  The D's had six errors in the game, giving the Cougars more chances to cash in.  Darby DeRuyter got the start and went 2 1/3 innings.  Teeghan Reams came on in relief and allowed eight runs, but just three were earned.  Sadie Knutson was effective as the third pitcher allowing two hits in 1 2/3 innings.
 
Down 8-1 after four innings, the Devils didn't quit.  Stenson hit a long three-run homer in the bottom of the 5^th to give LCC renewed hope.  Clackamas pitcher Riley Shopp then shut it down with two scoreless innings at the end of the game.
 
Stenson drove in all four runs for LCC.
 
Game #3 – Wenatchee Valley 18 Lower Columbia 3
 
Facing a Friday elimination game, LCC head coach Traci Fuller sensed the team was not ready for a survival run.  She was right.
 
With a tired arm, Heater took the ball put would last just an inning plus as Wenatchee came out swinging. Four hits and a hit batter chased Heater as the Knights scored five in the second. They would never look back.
 
Wenatchee Valley blew the game open with 10 runs in the 4^th inning on eight hits, two walks, an LCC error and two wild pitches.
 
The Devils began to realize the long season was soon to end.
 
To their credit, they did not give up.  Bennion and Maliyah Twitty had run scoring doubles for LCC in the 5^th and final inning.
 
The post season huddle was filled with some disappointment, but mostly joy for the times spent together.  It was a team that stayed together and enjoyed each other through the ups and downs of the season.
 
Lower Columbia finished 25-22 on the season and 4^th in the tough South Region.  South champ Southwestern Oregon ended up whining its first ever title. Second place Clackamas lost to SWOC in the championship game.  Third place South finisher Mt. Hood was in contention with their title hopes made more difficult due to the loss to LCC in the tournament.
 
With nine returners next year, including NFCA All-American Teeghan Reams, the Devils will again contend. A new group of talented freshman will come in to help the cause.
 
A great group of young women left a positive mark on the program.  DeRuyter, Panush, Bennion, Kennedy Williams, Jada Cargo-Acosta, and Dunlap may have played their last game as a Red Devil, but the memories live forever.