With stellar performances on both offense and defense, the Tigard softball team advanced to the OSAA Class 6A semifinals with a 5-0 win over Newberg on Friday night.
Offensively, the Tigers got a major lift from third baseman Kani Korok, who had two hits, a walk and four RBIs in the contest.
The last time the two teams faced was on April 13, with Tigard winning 7-1. In that game, Tigard catcher Karen Spadafora was dominant at the plate, sending two hits over the fence.
On Friday, with Tigard up 2-0 in the bottom of the fifth inning and two Tigard runners on base with one out, Newberg elected to intentionally walk Spadafora. Up next, Korok sent a pitch to the right field fence to score two more.
Korok said she holds herself to a high standard when she takes the plate, but watching Newberg intentionally walk Spadafora gave her an extra edge on Friday.
“It definitely makes my blood boil,” Korok said. “If you’re going to walk one of our strongest hitters, you’re going to get payback. You walk one of our best hitters, I’m going to step up to the plate and I’m going to smash it.”
From the jump, Korok was electric at the plate on Friday. She drew a walk at her first at-bat, making Newberg’s Serayah Neiss throw her good pitches as she fouled off ball after ball.
“I kind of expected myself to get the job done no matter how I got it done,” Korok said after the game.
In the circle, Tigard ace Makenna Reid had another strong outing. The future Florida State Seminole finished the game allowing three hits, walking two and striking out 15.
“I just want to pitch my hardest,” Reid said. “I didn’t want anyone to score.”
What the box score doesn’t show is that Reid got herself into a couple of tough situations on Friday night. But each time she did, she followed it up with strikeouts.
In the top of the fourth inning, Reid allowed two players on base after hitting a player and walking another. She struck out the next three batters.
In the top of the fifth inning, Newberg’s Brooke Poff hit a leadoff double. Reid struck out the next three batters.
In the top of the sixth inning, Abby Carsley hit a leadoff double. Reid struck out the next two batters before walking Hayley Poff. Reid then struck out the next batter. After that strikeout, Reid tore her mask off and celebrated with the team.
“I definitely took that personally,” Reid said about allowing a player onto third base in a crucial inning. “I just don’t want to give anything up. I’ll leave it all out there. It’s senior year and you don’t have any more chances after this.”
Tigard got the offense rolling in the bottom of the third inning. After two scoreless innings, Korok hit a single just over the tips of Newberg shortstop Brooklyn Mills’ glove to score two.
Korok drove two more runs in in the bottom of the fifth inning. At the next at-bat, Hailey White hit a blooper to centerfield to score one more, giving Tigard a 5-0 lead.
For Newberg, Neiss pitched six innings, allowing seven hits, walking two and striking out 10.
Newberg’s season comes to an end with a 23-6 record. One third of Newberg’s losses in 2022 came at the hands of Tigard.
Tigard will host McNary in the state semifinals on Tuesday.
— Nik Streng, nstreng@oregonian.com, @NikStreng
