Softball Game Preview: Tumwater Thunderbirds vs. WF West Bearcats

The Tumwater Thunderbirds will face off against the WF West Bearcats at 4:30 p.m. on Monday. Tumwater is coming into the matchup hot, having won their last four games.

Tumwater had to skate by with only a one-run margin when they last took the field, which might have inspired the 12-run drubbing they dealt Black Hills on Friday. The Thunderbirds were the clear victors by a 15-3 margin over the Wolves. Considering the Thunderbirds have won seven contests by more than five runs this season, Friday's blowout was nothing new.

Sarah Stevens made a splash no matter where she played. She looked comfortable on the mound, pitching five innings while giving up just two earned (and one unearned) runs off six hits. She has been nothing but reliable: she hasn't given up more than two walks in seven consecutive appearances. She was also big at the plate, going 2-for-3 with two RBI.

Megan Barrett

Runs Batted In (Career)

04/25/25 @ Black Hills	3
04/21/25 vs Centralia	2
04/09/25 @ Black Hills	2
04/23/25 vs Shelton	1
03/22/25 @ Montesano	1

In other batting news, Tumwater got a massive performance out of Megan Barrett, who went 3-for-4 with three runs, three RBI, and one triple. Those three RBI gave Barrett a new career-high. Another player making a difference was Sophie Skillman, who went 3-for-4 with three runs, two RBI, and one double.

Tumwater always had someone on base and finished the game having posted an OBP of .605. They easily outclassed their opponents in that department as Black Hills only posted an OBP of .375.

Meanwhile, it was a proper cat-fight when WF West faced off against Centralia on Friday. The Bearcats fell just short of the Tigers by a score of 4-3. That's two games in a row now that the Bearcats have lost by just one run.

Tumwater's victory was their sixth straight on the road, which pushed their record up to 10-2. Those road wins came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 1.2 runs on average over those games. As for WF West, this is the second loss in a row for them and nudges their season record down to 8-6.

Tumwater couldn't quite finish off WF West in their previous meeting last Friday and fell 6-4. Can the Thunderbirds avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.