Though Tahoma’s fastpitch team got off to a bumpy start in the 4A state tournament it bounced back yet again.

The Bears finished the weekend hoisting the third place trophy after winning five straight games, with junior catcher Bre West putting an exclamation point on the tournament with a three-run shot over the left field fence to beat Woodinville 7-4 in the third-fourth place game May 25 at Merkel Sports Complex in Spokane.

Tahoma lost its first game in the district tournament the previous weekend then won three straight — including consecutive wins over league rivals Kentridge and Kentlake in loser-out contests — en route to state.

Richland beat Tahoma in the first round 7-5. From there the Bears couldn’t be stopped.

“Losing the first game out of the shoot was tough, but we only had an hour to regroup to play two more games,” wrote Tahoma coach Tom Milligan in an email interview. “Going into it, I knew that attrition and endurance both physically and mentally would be key to get past our previous runs during state. I am so proud of what these ladies did for the final five games and to knock off the defending state champ (Woodinville) in the consolation game was exhilarating.”

Tahoma defeated Emerald Ridge — the team the Bears lost to in the South Puget Sound League title game two weeks earlier — then took out Moses Lake 10-0 to make it to the second day of the tournament. Delaney Nelson hit a three-run homer with two outs in the top of the seventh to help the Bears come back to win.

From there Tahoma started off the second day with a 5-1 victory over Central Valley to set up a rematch with Richland. It was a weekend of rematches for the Bears, who knocked the Bombers out of the tournament with a 4-2 win to set up the match up for the third-fourth place game.

Tahoma lost to Woodinville in the second round of state in 2011, the Bears first appearance as a fastpitch program and its first trip to state since 1994.

In its previous two appearances at state in 2011 and 2012, Tahoma went 2-2 and finished seventh both years, but this time around the Bears were guaranteed hardware heading into their final contest May 25 against the Falcons.

It was a wild battle which saw Woodinville, the defending 4A state champions, tied up with Tahoma at 4-4 as the seven regulation frames were complete.

It was tied up thanks to a solo shot by Delaney Nelson in the bottom of the fifth.

Tahoma started the bottom of the eighth off when Nelson drew a walk — senior co-captain Jena Waler came in to pinch run and stole second — then Halle Elliott was hit on the back on the first pitch before West stepped into the batter’s box with one out.

West fouled off three pitches and was down in the count at one ball and two strikes before she got just the one she wanted and launched it over the fence.

For Tahoma’s four seniors — Waler, Courtney Cloud, Molly Lahtrop and Amanda Allison — it built on the legacy of the program which began when the Bears went to state in 2011 when they were sophomores. Getting to state was always the goal, the focus for Waler and Cloud all season as captains, but the third place finish was definitely satisfying.

“Somebody asked me if second place would have been better,” Milligan wrote. “And after careful thought I came up with this: only one team is No. 1 and about 80 4A teams weren’t. We won five straight games and left Spokane winning our last game on the field. The feeling for the seniors and underclassmen is at an all-time high and besides winning it all, I couldn’t imagine anything better.”

Tahoma returns its starting pitchers Carley Nance, who threw a complete game for the win over Woodinville, as well as Maddie Scott — who threw a complete game shut out against Moses Lake while tallying seven strikeouts —among several other freshmen, sophomores and juniors from a team which won the SPSL North, earned the second seed into the district tournament and took fifth there heading into state.

Nance maintained her composure against Woodinville in the top of the eighth when the Falcons had the winning run on third base with two outs. A grounder to freshman shortstop Mia Corbin, who threw to first base for the force out, ended the inning to set up West’s home run.

This is the Bears first trophy since winning it all as a 3A slowpitch program in 1988.

Tahoma finished with a 9-3 post-season record on top of a 16-0 North division record and finished with a 26-5 overall record.

There is much to look forward to in 2014, though.

“Losing four quality seniors is tough, but every year each team has to deal with new challenges to build unity within its program,” Milligan wrote. “From our end, the remaining 13 underclassmen experienced something really special that they can build on in the future. Getting into games with the best players throughout the state to challenge them offensively and defensively can assist to raise the skill-set of the individuals and the team.”