Someone had to lose, and on this night that team was Tigard, as the Tigers fell 1-0 to Sherwood in the second round of the state playoffs on Wednesday, May 28, at Sherwood High School.

Sherwood’s Jordyn Henderson turned tragedy into triumph when she narrowly avoided a tag at the plate in the bottom of the 10th inning to give the Bowmen the win.

With the bases loaded and Hollie Maughan at the plate, Henderson got stuck halfway down the third baseline on a Maughan swing and miss, and with little less to do than dart for the plate when Tigard catcher Kenna Clark’s throw went down to third, Henderson did so with fervor, sliding past a low and bobbled ball at home en route to the game-winner.

“Because she (Henderson) is a good base runner and she’s fast, as soon as she saw the catcher release the ball she knew she had a chance to get to home,” Sherwood head coach Kris Moore said. “Then she made a good slide into the base and the throw was low and hit her, and we were able to score. It takes a little luck to win a game like that, and we ended up with the luck at the end.”

There was no luck prior to that, for it was all skill – at least in the circle.

Sherwood’s Presley Sarono-Ramos, along with her teammate Destiny Cornwell were literally unhittable, combining to strike out 17 and walk just two in 10 hitless innings.

Not to be outdone, Tigard’s Avery Rust pitched in all 10 innings, allowing three hits while striking out 16.

Moore raved about his pitchers’ effort, but at the same time acknowledged Rust’s work from afar.

“She was amazing,” the Sherwood coach said. “She was moving the ball all over the zone, mixing speeds, and hiding her pitches really well. I pride my team in not striking out a lot, but she struck us out a lot and kept us off balance.”

Tigard head coach Pete Kostel couldn’t help but agree, but at the same time lamented his team’s execution when opportunity knocked.

“Avery (Rust) pitched one heck of a game,” Kostel said. “She pitched really well and we had our opportunities, but we didn’t execute when it comes down to it.”

One of those opportunities came in the sixth inning when Tigard had runners on second and third with no outs thanks to a walk and subsequent error. But Sarono-Ramos issued a strikeout to the next batter, then the Tigard runner at second was called out for leaving the base too early, and Sarono-Ramos shut the door on the Tigers’ scoring chance with a strikeout to end the inning.

Then of course there was the top of the 10th inning where Tigard started with a runner on second base as part of the International Tiebreaker Rule, but the Tigers were put down on three straight strikeouts.

Moore credited his team with their resilience in getting out of those jams.

“Tigard got themselves into some situations offensively where they had runners in scoring position with no outs, and we were able to get locked in, get focused and get out of those jams,” the coach said. “Getting out of the 10th inning International Tiebreak without giving up a run gave us a lot of confidence, and in the end we were just able to execute one more play than they did.”

Moore talked about his team’s confidence after the game, and believes that confidence will continue to be a benefit to them as they continue on in the playoffs.

“We’ve been confident all year,” Moore said. “They know they can win a number of different ways. We can win by hitting, can win by pitching and defense, and we can work our way through a tough game like this.”

Tigard’s season is over, however, and while it didn’t end the way they’d hoped, that didn’t take away from who they were or what they accomplished this season.

“Very proud of this team,” Kostel said. “This team got better, they got closer and were a tight group, and our seniors embodied what I want Tigard softball to be about.”

Daisha Cornwell had all three of Sherwood’s hits.

Sherwood will host West Linn in the Quarterfinals at 5 p.m. on Friday, May 30, at Sherwood High School

Other playoff scores were as follows:

6A

Sunset 10, Barlow 0

McMinnville 6, Tualatin 5

West Salem 6, Southridge 1

North Medford 2, Oregon City 1

Sherwood 1, Tigard 0

West Linn 7, McNary 6

Roseburg 6, Forest Grove 2

Jesuit 11, Aloha 0

3A

Scio 15, Elmira/Mapleton 2

Douglas 8, Lakeview 5

Glide 10, Willamina 4

South Umpqua 15, North Valley 5

Yamhill-Carlton 10, Harrisburg/Monroe 0

Vale 10, Burns/Crane 0

Banks 11, McLoughlin 1

Dayton 12, Brookings-Harbor 2