KELSO — The mark of a championship team is you take on all challengers: Anytime…any place…anywhere.

The Montesano High School softball team, the state’s second-ranked program according to maxpreps.com, proved once again they are worthy of the championship moniker.

The Bulldogs thwarted a late rally and overcame three home runs en route to an impressive 7-5 road victory over 3A power Kelso on Monday.

Monte (13-1, 7-0 Evergreen 1A) got on the board with a two-run double off the bat of Lindsay Pace in the first inning.

The Bulldogs doubled their lead to 4-0 in the second, when Pace lined a two-run single into right field to score Abi Parkin and Maddie Ekerson.

Aftter Peyton Poler singled in Parkin and Pace in the top of the sixth inning, Montesano held a comfortable 7-1 lead.

But Kelso, which is 14-2 overall and leading the 3A Greater St. Helen’s League, stormed back in the bottom of the sixth when they scored five runs, capped by back-to-back home runs by Capri Franzen and Hailey Parsons, to make it a 7-5 ballgame.

But Pace worked around a leadoff single in the bottom of the seventh by inducing a double play followed by a pop out to end the game.

Monte starting pitcher Samantha Stanfield shut down the vaunted Kelso lineup, allowing just one hit — a fourth inning home run to Parsons — while striking out 11 in five innings of work.

Things don’t get any easier for the Bulldogs, as they are scheduled to face another 3A power in the Redmond Mustangs (16-1, 13-0 KingsCo League) at 5:30 p.m. on Friday.

Montesano 220 012 0 — 7 11 2

Kelso 000 104 0 — 5 6 2

WP — S. Stanfield (5 IP, H, 11 K); LP — Holt (5 IP, 8 H, 5 ER, 2K, 2 BB)

Leading Hitters: M — Pace (2-3, 2B, 4 RBI), Parkin (3-4, 3 R), Ekerson (2-4, 2 R), Poler (2-4, 2 RBI). K — Parsons (2-3, 2 HR, 2 RBI), Franzen (1-3, HR, 2 RBI)

Ocosta JV edges Wishkah Valley

Wishkah Valley’s comeback attempt fell just short as they lost to Ocosta’s Junior Varsity team 11-9.

Ocosta JV’s Ryann Raffelson went 4-for-4 with and home run, four runs scored and five RBI.

Ocosta JV 302 024 0 — 11 12 4

Wishkah Valley 010 206 0 — 9 7 0

WP — Graham; LP — Hill

Leading Hitters: OJV — Raffelson (4-4, HR, 4 R, 5 RBI)

Aberdeen falls to WF West

CHEHALIS — The Bobcats dropped to 6-9 overall and 4-7 in the Evergreen 2A League after a 15-5 loss to the WF West Bearcats on Monday.

Aberdeen feel behind 10-0 then scored five runs in the fifth inning to climb back into the game before eventually losing by 10 runs.

“The kids never gave up, which was good to see,” Bobcats head coach Scott Wilson said. “They never rolled over and fought hard the entire game.”

No additional game information was available at the time of this writing.

Aberdeen plays at Tumwater beginning at 4:30 p.m.Wednesday.

PREP BASEBALL

Raymond sweeps North Beach

OCEAN SHORES — The Seagulls used a potent offense that scored a total of 28 runs en roue to a doubleheader sweep over North Beach, 13-6 and 15-4 on Friday.

Raymond’s Cesar Delgado and Tristan Hamlin each had a double and a triple in game one while teammate Christian Anderson collected two doubles to lead the Seagulls offense in the nightcap.

North Beach’s Mike Martin went 3-for-4 with a double for the Hyaks in game one.

Raymond is 7-6 overall, 6-4 in the Pacific 2B league.

North Beach drops to 4-8 and 3-7 on the season.

Raymond 410 140 3 — 13 12 3

North Beach 004 002 0 — 6 12 2

WP — Enslow; LP —Sotomish

Leading Hitters: R — Delgado (3-4, 2B, 3B), Hamlin (3-4, 2B, 3B). NB — Martin (3-4, 2B)

Raymond 030 1 — 4 6 1

North Beach 702 6 — 15 10 3

WP — Anderson; LP —Contreras

Leading Hitters: R — Anderson (2-3, 2 2B), Delgado (2-3, 2B)

Lake Quinault clinches playoff spot

The Elks clinched second place in the Central 1B section and a first-round home playoff game with a 10-0 victory over Mary M. Knight on Monday.

Lake Quinault pitcher Allen Espinoza combined with Thunder Mowitch to allow just one hit in the five inning game.

Espinoza went 2-for-2 with two doubles and two RBI at the dish. Murray Cottrell added a double and 3 RBI for the Elks.

Lake Quinault then lost to league-leading Naselle 20-0 later Monday afternoon.

The Elks host Ocosta’s JV team at 3:30 p.m. on Wednesday.

Mary M. Knight 000 00 — 0 1 2

Lake Quinault 243 1x — 10 8 0

WP — Espinoza (2 IP, H, 4 K, 2 BB); LP — Fries (3 IP, 6 H, 9 R, 6 BB, 4 K)

Leading Hitters: LQ — Espinoza (2-2, 2 2B, 2 RBI), Cottrell (2-2, 2B, 3 RBI). M — Fries (2B)

Naselle 371 09 — 20 16 0

Lake Quinault 000 00 — 0 3 0

WP — Lindstrom (5 IP, 3 H, 9 K); LP — Cottrell (2 IP, 6 H, 10 R, 6 BB, 3 K)

Leading Hitters: N — Townsend (4-5, 2B, 3B, 4 RBI), Bergeson (3-5, 3 2B, 3 RBI)

Two big innings sink Elma

In a game where both teams committed multiple errors, it was the Eagles’ inability to capitalize their opponents miscues as Elma fell to Tenino 6-3 on Tuesday.

Elma got off to a strong start with a pair of runs in the first but saw that lead evaporate when Tenino scored three in the second inning.

Both teams committed five errors, leaving Elma coach Jim Hill frustrated after losing a game he felt was winnable.

“We have to cut down on our walks and our errors, then we can compete,” he said. “We have to expect that we can compete and they have to get a lot more mentally tough as a ball players.”

Elma (5-10, 2-7) will get a chance at some payback when they play Tenino again on the road at 4 p.m. Wednesday.

Elma 200 001 0 – 3 5 5

Tenino 030 300 0 – 6 4 5

WP — Gubbe (6 K, 2 BB); LP — B. Rusteymeyer (4 K, 5 BB, 2 HBP)

Leading Hitters: E — Shriver (2B), Richardson (2B)

Ocosta pitchers combine for one-hitter

OCOSTA — Wildcats pitchers Cole Hatton and Zach Allton combined to allow just one hit as Ocosta blanked Pe Ell/Willapa Valley 4-0 on Monday.

Hatton started for the Wildcats and held the Titans hitless through the first six innings while recording 10 strikeouts.

“Cole was just cruising. He looked very good,” Ocosta head coach Mike Allton said. “He had all his pitches working for him.”

Of Hatton’s 72 pitches thrown, 51 were for strikes. Zach Alton spelled Hatton in the seventh and allowed a one-out single to Tyson Nissell — the Titans’ only hit of the game.

Noah Martin went 3-for-3 with two RBI the lead the Wildcats, who responded to dropping two straight games with a much better performance according to coach Allton.

“There was a lull in our energy and our approach (in the two-game losing streak) but we stepped it up tonight,” he said.

PWV 000 000 0 — 0 1 1

Ocosta 220 000 x — 4 11 0

WP — Hatton (6 IP, 0 H, 10 K, BB); LP — Bair (6 IP, 11 H, 3 ER, 5 K)

Leading Hitters: O — Martin (3-3, 2 RBI), Allton (2-4, RBI), Martinzez (2-4, 2 R)

GIRLS TENNIS

Pratt downed by Cameron in rematch

CHELAIS — WF West’s Sydney Cameron bested Aberdeen’s Aleeta Pratt in a highly-anticipated rematch of two of the top tennis players in the Evergreen 2A League.

Pratt lost to the Bearcats’ top singles player 6-1, 7-5 in a match between two of the top singles players in the section.

Cameron had to withdraw from their match last week in the first set due to medical reasons, giving Pratt the victory.

Pratt is now 10-2 in singles competition this season.

As a team, Aberdeen lost five matches to one against WF West. The Bobcats lone win came in the final match of event, when the Bobcats pair of Molly Scruggs and Chase Baller defeated Tina Chen and Sadie Jerome 8-6 and 6-2.

Singles: Cameron (WF) def. Pratt (A) 6-1, 7-5; Chung (WF) def. Erwin (A) 6-0, 6-0; Akins (WF) def. Lang (A), 6-0, 6-0. Doubles: Wilks/Davis (WF) def. Dominguez/Tageant (A) 6-3, 6-0; Lakey/Itan (WF) def. Bradt/Knodel (A) 6-2, 6-0; Scroggs/Baller (A) def. Chen/Jerome (WF) 8-6, 6-2.