Tigard jumps up to claim district crown

Softball: Play at the 10-11 Little League state event opens Monday in Baker City

By Dan Brood

The Times, Jul 16, 2009, Updated Oct 30, 2009

READY FOR ACTION — Tigard catcher Emilee Heyden (right) is ready to tag out Murrayhill’s Rachel Wagner in Friday’s District 4 tourney title contest.

DAN BROOD / The Times

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One title down.

And, the Tigard Little League ages 10-11 all-star softball hopes, one title to go.

The Tigard squad, on Friday, wrapped up one tournament championship as it ran to a 17-4 win over Murrayhill to claim the District 4 tourney title in a game played at Alpenrose Dairy.

With the district championship, Tigard now advances to play at the Oregon State Tournament, which begins Monday in Baker City.

“We’re excited about state,” Tigard catcher Emilee Heyden said following the win over Murrayhill. “We want to win it.”

And, while the Tigard team is taking high hopes to the state tournament, the players also seem to be thrilled with the district crown.

“This means a lot to us,” Tigard third baseman Kalyna Korok said. “The more we win, the more we get to keep playing and the more improved we get.”

And Tigard looked pretty darn good as it was at the district tournament. With just Tigard and Murrayhill competing at the ages 10-11 level, the tournament amounted to a best-of-three series between the two all-star teams.

Tigard won the teams’ first game, 11-1, last Thursday at Alpenrose to set up Friday’s title-clinching victory.

Tigard got off to a fast start in Friday’s contest, scoring three runs — all coming with two outs — in the top of the first.

Korok got things started by drawing a two-out walk. Alexa Kaplan singled and Heyden drew a walk to load the bases. Korok then scored the game’s first run on a passed ball. Then, after Katy Warren walked to reload the bases, Dena Emmons ripped a two-run single to give Tigard its early 3-0 advantage.

Murrayhill scored a pair of runs in the bottom of the first inning to cut the lead to 3-2, but Tigard answered back in a big way in the top of the second inning, scoring eight runs to break the game open.

Alyssa Overcash put down a bunt single to get the big inning started. She would end up scoring on a wild pitch to give Tigard a 4-2 lead.

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