The Yakima Valley softball team will have a chance to right the ship Thursday when it faces Everett in the first round of the NWAC Championships. The No. 11 seed Yaks lost their final five games of the conference season, but in their defense, they were playing the top three teams in the NWAC East, including No. 2 seed Columbia Basin, winners of 28 in a row.

YVC (19-17 overall) will take on Everett, the No. 6 overall seed and the North Division champs, at 10 a.m. Thursday at Delta Park in Portland. The winner will play the winner of the Southwest Oregon-Centralia matchup at 3:30 p.m. The loser will take on the loser of that game, also at 3:30 p.m.

Before a tough final stretch against the NWAC East, the Yaks had been on a roll, winning seven in a row to solidify their hold on fourth place in the conference. One of those victories came against third-place Wenatchee last Tuesday, when YVC scored three runs in the seventh to earn a 10-7 win against the Knights. With the game tied 7-7, Bailee Hancock delivered and RBI sacrifice fly before Abbygale Sheridan hit a two-run double to put the game away.

Glory Estabrook earned the win in the circle, allowing 11 hits and five earned runs to go with five strikeouts. She also had an RBI, while Linnea Butler and Hancock both drove in two runs. Emma Stamp went 2-for-4 with an RBI as YVC connected for 10 basehits on the afternoon. The Yaks dropped the nightcap by a score of 9-1 after allowing six runs in the bottom of the fifth inning. Estabrook picked up the team's lone RBI on a sac fly in the third, while pitcher Briley Ingram took the loss, allowing five earned runs and 10 hits.

Game one against Walla Walla last Thursday was also an uphill battle as the Yaks failed to record a hit in an 11-0 loss. YVC took a 6-2 lead through four innings in game two, but a five-run fifth proved to be the difference in a 9-8 defeat. The Yaks outhit the Warriors, 15-12, led by a 3-for-4 effort by Sheridan, who also drove in a pair of runs.

Darcee Isidoro also went 3-for-4, while Stamp and Estabrook both went 2-for-4, and Madison Morrison finished 2-for-3 with two RBI and two runs scored. Ingram allowed five earned runs and 10 hits over five innings, striking out five, and Estabrook pitched the final two innings, giving up two hits and one run.

Saturday's final two games against second-ranked Columbia Basin didn't present many highlights as YVC fell 10-0 and 8-0. Tylee Cossitt went 2-for-2 with a double in the opener and the Yaks were no-hit in the nightcap.