LACEY — One could argue that the most treacherous path to a state trophy in all of Washington prep team sports is the path the Timberline Blazers are aiming to take this weekend in the 3A state softball tournament.
If a team loses in the second round of the state tournament, they must rebound with four straight wins in elimination games just to reach the third-place game, which would require a fifth consecutive victory to cap off the season.
Timberline’s hopes for a state championship came to a screeching halt in the second round as the fifth-seeded Blazers were upset by 12th-seeded Bishop Blanchet 10-5 Friday afternoon. The Blazers quickly bounced back from that loss by handling 13th-seeded White River 14-4 in a six-inning elimination game before defeating seventh-seeded Garfield 8-2 to advance to the final day of the 2026 season.
In a way, the hard part is over for Timberline. It’s a new day and therefore a new season, and the Blazers are two wins away from their first state trophy since 2008.
After the loss to Bishop Blanchet, the Blazers, in the minimal amount of time they had before the next game against White River, had a heart-to-heart moment with one another.
“We sat on the bleachers and we were like, ‘We’re gonna actually do this. Don’t have a little pity party. Let’s make our adjustments, and let’s come out and win,’” junior Nevaeh Haagen said. “We had a heart to heart because after the first game, it was pretty ugly.”
Bishop Blanchet’s powerful bats were the story of the game against Puget Sound League MVP pitcher Haagen. With two outs in the first inning, the Bears plated a pair of runs on hard-hit balls to the outfield, and they added to their lead with a run in the third and another in the fourth. Timberline’s Brookelyn Read put her team on the scoreboard in the fourth with an RBI single, but a solo home run by Noelle Schuyler in the fifth gave Bishop Blanchet the momentum right back. Up 5-2 in the sixth, the Bears grabbed a firm grasp on the game with a four-run inning to take a 9-2 advantage. Brynnli Mayr, Abigail Terry and Kayleese Dorfner each drove in a run in Timberline’s attempt at a comeback, but the Bears prevailed to send Timberline down a path it is quite familiar with: the consolation bracket.
In each of the last four trips to state, Timberline has lost in the second round, but the Blazers believe this year’s team can string together gritty victory after gritty victory to hoist a trophy Saturday afternoon.
“We came into the first game not completely in it. We were trying to lean on someone else,” Dorfner said, “From there, we were like, ‘We have to bounce back. From this point on, there’s no more lazying around.’”
“We’ve been talking about dealing with the pressure and stepping up in big moments. The biggest thing for us was to just make sure that we didn’t just give up, which is what has happened to us in the past,” head coach Lynsi Polanco added. “Now, we go play for three. Now, we push for that trophy. The mindset was: we’re not done. Now we fight.”
Timberline immediately returned to the turf to face the White River Hornets, who had lost to Roosevelt 6-1 in the second round, in the first of what the Blazers hope is a run of five elimination games this weekend. The Blazers took their first lead of the state tournament on an RBI double by Haagen in the first before the team collectively let out their frustrations in the second inning, blasting White River with eight runs on eight hits.
Timberline honored its mantra of “All gas, no brakes,” by continuing to pile onto its lead, eventually ending the game early via run rule in the sixth inning.
After struggling with her command against Bishop Blanchet, Haagen bounced back nicely against White River, striking out seven over five innings. She also provided her team with some offense, driving in four RBIs and three hits.
“As a pitcher, every game is a new game. Every pitch is a new pitch, so you just have to leave it behind you,” Haagen said. “It was easy to say, ‘It’s done. It’s over with. Bye.’ I was getting behind in counts [against Bishop Blanchet], so I wanted to make sure I got ahead without throwing down the middle to get my first strike. That was my biggest adjustment.”
Timberline earned a lengthy break before taking the field one more time Friday night to face seventh-seeded Garfield, which had just lost to second-seeded Mount Spokane 5-3 in the quarterfinals.
Porsha Miller, who had pitched three innings against Bishop Blanchet and one inning against White River, was impressive in the circle in the finale, holding the Bulldogs off the scoreboard until the seventh inning. Haagen, who returned to her typical cleanup spot in the lineup Friday after a stretch as the leadoff hitter, continued making strong contact with an RBI single in the third inning. Read brought her home with an RBI triple to give the Blazers a 3-0 lead, and Timberline added two more runs in the third.
With two outs in the sixth, Dorfner blasted a no-doubt, two-run home run to left center field, and Haagen cranked a homer of her own two pitches later to put Timberline ahead 8-0.
“It felt really good, especially with my team behind my back. It was really fun,” Dorfner said of the home run.
Haagen finished the day 8 of 12 at the plate with six RBIs, two doubles, four runs scored and the home run. She and Miller shared an even workload throughout the day in the circle, each throwing 10 innings across the three games.
“After the first game, we had to learn how to work together as pitchers because me and Nevaeh are two different pitchers. We approach batters differently with speed and the way we spin the ball,” Miller said. “We were able to come back in the second game and put all of our energy into it.”
The road to third place is simple: three wins, no losses. Timberline must first face 14th-seeded Kennewick to start the day Saturday and will meet the loser of the semifinal between Roosevelt and Sedro-Woolley if it wins.
For the last three state tournaments, the Blazers fell short on the journey to a trophy game, but Polanco knows this team is wired differently and has the depth and talent to do something special.
“At different times, different people stepped up when we needed them to. They were stringing base hits together. Small ball was a huge part,” she said. “And the pitching between [Haagen and Miller] and utilizing Nevaeh’s speed with Porsha’s spins. That was a huge combo for us.”
Only eight teams get to celebrate making it to the final day of the season. Four of them have state championship aspirations, while the other four have a chip on their shoulder from losing on Friday.
It seems as though Timberline has piled up the chips on its shoulder this postseason after shortcomings in the league title game, district title game and the second round of the state tournament. But the Blazers, the last team remaining in the bracket from District 3, still have a chance to end the season on a high note.
“There is no getting better at this point in the season. There’s just what you have, so do your best with it,” Haagen said. “Everybody’s tired. Everybody’s playing in the heat, but at the end of the day, we get gritty and we want it more than the other teams.”
