On Tuesday, May 12, the Lady Vikings journeyed to La Conner and beat the Lady Braves in a squeaker to take the league championships in division 1A/1B northwest. The final score, 3-2, gave the Lady Vikings an overall winning record against the leading league champs La Conner by two wins to one loss in a set of three games played over the season.

“What we did was just play great team defense,” Coach Scott Harris said. “We had no errors and we had some savvy hits at the plate.”

The Lady Vikings used small ball (bunting, slapping) to generate runs in the third inning and their defense sealed the deal by playing clean and tight and not allowing the powerful La Conner offense to get a bat in edge-wise.

“I’m very proud of both pitchers,” Harris said. “Lowry did a great job in the beginning of the fifth inning and Garcia played injured and just gave it her all. She’s had a pulled muscle for a couple of weeks but it hasn’t stopped her.”

The big third inning for Orcas started off with a slap by Lindsay Anderson followed by Alison O’Toole’s and Sydney Harris’ bunts to get them on base. This strategy loaded the bases and then Lanie Padbury hit a clutch single and scored two runs, followed by Mackie Taylor stepping up and hitting a single to bring in the third run. Clay flew and the Lady Vikings played a great strategic game.

Orcas sealed the league title by playing a tight defense and holding the La Conner powerhouse at bay. It brought their record to 10-2 in league play. The Lady Vikings play again in the tri-district tournament May 21, Thursday at 4:30 p.m. on home ground at Buck Park.