It has been a season of firsts for the Tahoma fastpitch team.

This spring the Bears won the South Puget Sound League North division title and unlike in 2010 or 2011, this time it is all their own.

Another first for Tahoma was beating Kentlake twice in the same season. Add to that the first time the Bears have beaten the Falcons at Kentlake, which they did handily April 25, putting together an 11-2 victory to improve to 14-0 in league play.

Winning league was one of Tahoma’s goals from the start of the season. After beating Kentlake for the second time co-captain Courtney Cloud, a senior who plays second base, was elated.

“Oh my gosh, it feels amazing,” Cloud said. “We wanted it so bad. We worked hard. Everybody wanted it. It’s freaking amazing.”

Co-captain Jena Waler added, “It feels good to beat (Kentlake) on their own turf.”

Tahoma clinched the North with three wins in two days to start off the week of April 22.

Things kicked off with a 6-1 victory over Kentridge April 22 as Halle Elliott and Mia Corbin both went 3-for-4 at the plate for the Bears.

Tahoma finished up a game April 23 against Thomas Jefferson from the first contest of the league season. The Bears and the Raiders picked up where they left off in March, tied 6-6 in the sixth inning. Ashlee Creek hit a solo shot in the top of the seventh to break up the tie for Tahoma and Jefferson couldn’t answer in the bottom half as the Bears took the 7-6 win.

From there, the Bears picked apart the Raiders in the second game which was scheduled for that afternoon at Tahoma, putting together a 6-1 victory.

Waler said there were teams who doubted Tahoma could accomplish what it has this season after losing power hitters Hayley Beckstrom and Jordan Walley, who are both playing on scholarship in college.

“No one thought we could do this,” Waler said. “Two years ago no one even thought we were going to get to state. I definitely think this year we’re going to have something incredible happen, too, we just have to get there.”

As Tahoma prepares for the playoffs, Waler and Cloud are thinking about what they need to do to help the Bears work toward their next goal: a third straight state appearance at the 4A tournament in Spokane at the end of May. They both learned how to be good leaders from the captains who paved the way from the class of 2011, Lisa Maulden and Emily Miller, as well as Beckstrom and Walley, who served as captains in 2012.

Waler said Tahoma needs to keep up the high level of energy it has been able to tap all season, to continue to push hard and stay focused.

Cloud explained the Bears have to prepare for each team they face in the post-season as if they’ve never played them before, whether they have or not.

“We have to keep it rolling,” Cloud said. “We went to state for the first time our sophomore year and we want everyone to experience that feeling.”

Like that moment nearly a year ago when Tahoma beat Kentridge in the district tournament in a winner-to-state, loser out game, when Cloud made a game saving catch to stop a Chargers rally to seal the win and send the Bears back to Spokane.

That kind of feeling, Waler said, is one of the best she’s ever experienced.

“It’s our senior year,” Waler said. “And we want to go to state.”