Brooke Rausch belted two home runs and Rylee Rehbein struck out 25 over 13 innings pitched as the Battle Ground softball team won twice Saturday at the 4A bi-district tournament to clinch a return berth to the 4A state tournament.
Rehbein and Rausch hit back-to-back home runs in the fifth inning, sparking the Tigers to a 5-1 win over Decatur in the morning loser-out game at Kent Service Fields. Rehbein allowed one run on four hits with 15 strikeouts.
Battle Ground clinched a state berth with an 11-1 win over Tahoma.
After the Bears tied the game with one run in the fourth, Battle Ground broke the game open with a six-run fifth inning. Rausch opened the rally with a solo home run. Makenzy Newton capped the inning with a three-run home run.
Rausch went 4 for 6 with two home runs, a double and two RBI over the two games.
SKYVIEW FALLS TWICE: With their ace pitcher sidelined with an ankle injury, the Storm could not outslug their foes on Saturday, losing twice on Saturday.
Skyview (22-2) fell to Emerald Ridge 9-5 and then to Rogers-Puyallup 11-7.
Star pitcher Maddie Milhorn rolled her ankle late in a state-clinching win on Friday. She did not play in either game on Saturday.
Addy Harmier went 2 for 4 with a home run and two RBI and Maddi Scull also homered as the Storm lost in the bi-district semifinal to Emerald Ridge.
In the third-place game vs. Rogers, Skyview rallied from an early 6-1 deficit to tie the game 6-6 after three innings. But then Rogers scored five times in the fifth to pull away.
Scull went 2 for 4 with a double, Emma Kauffman was 2 for 4 with two RBI, and Dylan Yates hit a home run for the Storm, who hope Milhorn will be ready to return for state next week in Richland.
