The Warriors, a surprise finalist, fell behind early and were able to get only one baserunner as far as second base as Haily Miranda pretty much dominated the game.
"Hey, it's been a great experience, a real dream for these girls," said Hoopa coach Tony Risling. "I'm not disappointed because we lost to a great softball team and our girls have shown they can compete."
Felicia Miranda and Cari Killingsworth led off the Ferndale first with walks, before a one-out double by Jackie Miranda drove in both runners.
The Wildcats got single runs in the second, third and fourth innings and three more in the fifth, building their eventual margin of victory.
"We just could not let Hoopa catch us on a bad day," said Mike Griffith, who shares coaching responsibilities at Ferndale with Tom Jorgensen. "It was important that we come out and do what we needed to do."
And Ferndale did that.
"Jackie Miranda came into this game with eight hits in eight at bats in the playoffs," said Jorgensen. "She got two hits (in three at bats) in this game. She's been very important to our team, obviously."
Haily Miranda, meanwhile, kept Hoopa from doing what it wanted to do.
The Warriors, however, hit the ball well and made several outstanding plays in the field, though they also had a couple of mistakes that led to Ferndale runs.
"I don't think any of us expected (an undefeated season)," said Jorgensen. "I know I didn't. I think we expected this team to do well, but how could we expect it to do this well?"
And again, said Jorgensen, "it was pitching and defense" that set the tone for the Wildcats.
"Against (Hoopa), we had to take advantage of every opportunity," said Jorgensen. "There were a couple of times when we scored runs with two out. That was big."
Miranda did not walk anyone and struck out seven, facing the minimum three batters in three of the seven innings and only four batters in three other innings.
Hoopa got two runners on base with two out in the fifth, but was unable to score.
Ferndale, meanwhile, went down quietly only once, in the sixth.
"Our players should feel pretty good about themselves," said Risling. "Some of them never have played in a game like this and the biggest thing the others have had was (youth league) tournament games.
"The Ferndale players have been through this ... but our girls are going to be back and they'll know what it takes."
Risling said Melissa Jarnaghan, his team's starting pitcher, did as well as expected, though he acknowledged that Haily Miranda "really was on her game."
"When she pitches like she did (Saturday), well, it's tough," he said with a smile.
Still, Risling said it was "a dream" for his players to participate at the section championship level.
"Our goal is to achieve at this level and being able to play with a team like Ferndale is very satisfying to the coaches," said Risling.
Individually, Killingsworth scored four runs and had two hits; Laci Cook had a single and two runs batted in; Jackie Miranda had a double and a single and three runs batted in; and Haily Miranda had a single and an RBI.
Brittany Vigil, Karmen McCovey, Cari Ames, Angelia Risling and Trish Marshall had the hits, all singles, for Hoopa.
"For us," said Jorgensen, "it was a matter of achieving three goals -- having a good preseason and conference, and winning the conference. We didn't think about going unbeaten until someone mentioned the (state softball) record.
"But the first thing was, winning the league. That was our big goal."
Sunday, May 30, 2004
It wasn't easy for Ferndale, though, as Hoopa came into the game with a 16-11 record and six consecutive wins, including two in the playoffs.