The first thing Silverdale Baptist Academy softball coach Tim Couch said in his postgame interview Thursday was “That’s a load off our back.”
That may seem like an unusual comment from a coach whose team just breezed to a 10-0 five-inning victory over Grace Academy to win the District 5-A championship, until one realizes it marks the first high school district championship in the program’s 10-year history.
“We’ve been blessed with a great bunch of players,” Couch added. “We’ve got a lot of good kids, a lot of good players.”
The program has advanced to the Region 3 tournament eight of nine years beginning in 2007, its second season. However, the only region-semifinal victory in that span was 1-0 at Marion County in 2012, the year the Lady Seahawks made their only state-tournament appearance.
Silverdale (21-5-1) will host a region semifinal for the first time Monday when Sale Creek makes the trip. Game time is expected to be 5:30 p.m. Grace (8-8) will play at District 6 champion Marion County, currently set for 6 EDT.