Officially, the Camas Papermakers won the Class 4A District 4 softball championship Thursday evening. One could make a case, though, that they won it with a perfect week.
Camas, the favorite going into the season, had to win three games in a row Monday through Wednesday just to get a share of the 4A Greater St. Helens League title, just to make it to the district finals. Then they needed another win on Thursday to claim a championship.
Harli Hubbard struck out 13 and Rio Smith drove in two runs, leading Camas to a 6-4 victory over Union at Heritage High School. Camas will go to the bi-district tournament as the top seed from Southwest Washington. Union is No. 2.
Hubbard struck out 58 batters in her four games this week.
“It’s very important on what the now is and not the past,” Hubbard said, noting her team could not worry about the three league losses that put the Papermakers in a hole.
As the pitcher, she sets that tone.
“I think I handled it a lot better than I have in the past,” she said.
Smith said she is proud to be part of a program that did not back down when things were down.
“You can expect to win. You can want to win. You can work to win. But you need to fight to win,” Smith said. “This last week, we fought to win.”
Hubbard had a run-scoring double and Smith had a run-scoring single in Camas’ three-run first inning. The Papermakers took advantage of two Union errors in the frame.
Smith and McKinley Johnson gave Camas a 5-0 lead with run-scoring singles in the top of the third.
“I really don’t know the words,” Smith said. “It’s was awesome. It was nice. I picked up my hitting.”
Union made it a game, though, with two runs in the bottom of the third. Alexis Kron drove in a run with a single. The Titans got two more in the fifth to make it 5-4. Kron had a run-scoring double. Hubbard said she was a bit miffed at herself, but she knew what to do.
“I realized I had to get excited again. I had to put it on myself to get pumped again, and I did that,” she said. “I’m pretty proud of myself. I don’t really say that very often. I’m generally pretty hard on myself.”
Camas took advantage of three Union errors in the top of the seventh for an insurance run.
Hubbard got the Titans out in order in the bottom of the seventh.
At the end of the day, Camas is the No. 1 seed after all, even if the team took a long way to get there.
“They worked hard and carried the burden of being everyone’s favorite,” Camas coach Ken Nidick said.
He also said the challenges from the rest of the 4A GSHL should help his program in bi-district, and the Papermakers hope, beyond.
“I think it’s going to be huge,” Nidick said. “I really believe a cakewalk through league does you no good.”
This was no cakewalk, but it is a district title for the Papermakers.
