The Todd Beamer Titans may not have captured the South Puget Sound League North championship this season, but they captured an even greater prize in the league championship on May 15 after defeating Puyallup and Bethel.

The Titans found a lot of success this season as they finished the regular season with a record of 16-2 in league play and 17-3 overall. They earned the second seed from the South Puget Sound League North in the league tournament.

The top two seeds from the North and South had opportunities to win the league crown and a top seed in the district tournament.

Beamer opened the tournament against the league South’s No. 1 seed and defending state champions the Puyallup Vikings.

The Titans won 8-5 over the Vikings. Senior pitcher Maddie Rogers pitched all seven innings and had eight strikeouts, five walks and gave up nine hits in the game. Rogers also had two hits.

Both teams scored twice in the first inning. Beamer took control in the second inning as they scored four runs and pushed their lead to 6-2. They added two more in the third to bring the score to 8-2.

Maddy Colson was 2-4 with four RBIs in the game for the Titans. Both of her hits were doubles.

Analee Scott was 3-3 with two RBIs, a triple and a sacrifice bunt in the game.

After defeating Puyallup, Beamer took on the Bethel Braves who handed South Puget Sound League North champion Tahoma their first loss on the season. The Titans won 3-2 over the Braves and claimed the championship.

Rogers pitched again and had five strikeouts, a walk and gave up six hits. She also had a key two-run home run in the fourth inning to put the Titans up 2-0.

After five scoreless innings, Bethel finally scored two runs in the sixth to tie the ballgame. Rogers got all three Braves’ batters to ground out in the top of the seventh.

Grace Sunitsch started the top of the seventh off with a double. The next two batters struck out. Kenzie Palmer drew a walk with two outs. Scott was next up to bat and she got the walk-off base hit to center field that brought home Sunitsch.

The win gave Beamer their first league championship and set them up with the top seed in the West Central District playoffs and a game against the fifth seeded team out of the Narrows League, Bellarmine Prep. The game is at 11 a.m. on Friday, May 22 at the Kent Service Club Ballfields.

Federal Way advances to district tournament

It’s been a long time since the Eagles advanced this far into the postseason in softball. In fact, it can be measured in decades.

Federal Way entered the South Puget Sound League tournament as the fifth seeded team from the North division. They had a league record of 10-8 and an overall record of 10-9.

The Eagles began the tournament with a 3-1 loss to Emerald Ridge. They bounced back and clinched a spot in the district playoffs with an 8-5 win over Thomas Jefferson.

They will be the 10th seed from the league in the district playoffs after they fell 7-1 to Curtis in their final game of the league tournament. They open the Narrows League’s second seeded team, Gig Harbor, at 1 p.m. on Friday, May 22 at the Kent Service Club Ballfields.

Thomas Jefferson eliminated

It wasn’t the expected end for the Thomas Jefferson Raiders who finished in fourth in the North division this season.

After falling 7-0 to Kentridge in their first game of the league tournament, the Raiders were unable to recover as they fell 8-5 to Federal Way and 9-2 in an elimination game to Kentlake.

The Raiders finish the season with a record of 11-7 in league play and a 12-9 record overall.