Ki-Be seniors hope to cap careers in style at state softball tourney

The high school athletic accomplishments of Emily Thornton, Momo Calzadillas and Abby Pendergast have been plentiful, to say the least.

Combined, the Kiona-Benton seniors have participated in six sports and collected more than 20 all-league honors. Their latest achievement is helping the Bears return to the WIAA state softball tournament for the first time in a decade.

They want to finish their prep careers by bringing back some hardware from Columbia Playfield in Richland, where the Class 1A state tournament starts Friday. Ki-Be’s first-round game is at noon against Sultan.

“It’s kind of comforting we’re leaving a legacy,” Thornton said.

The Bears (16-7) won their first SCAC East regular-season title, with their only league loss against longtime state power Connell. Then they took second at districts, losing a 21-19 slugfest to Cle Elum-Roslyn in the championship game.

A major acknowledgment of their success came during all-league voting, when Ki-Be landed four first-team players (shortstop Thornton, second baseman Calzadillas, junior left fielder Tegan Carlson and sophomore pitcher Taylor Monk) and two second-teamers (center fielder Pendergast and junior pitcher/right fielder Katie Rheinschmidt). The Bears scored one all-SCAC East nod in 2013, two in 2014 and four last year.

The perspective on the Bears’ rise is different for Thornton than for the other girls because her dad, Dave, is the coach.

“I know he’s worked really hard to build our program from where we started — he had everyone on varsity because there were only 11 players — and then to now, where we can actually have a deep bench and can make it to state,” Thornton said.

Thornton, Calzadillas and Pendergast played together all four years on the Ki-Be basketball team, but Calzadillas joined the softball program this season.

It didn’t take long for the former club and rec-league softball player to shake off the rust: She is batting .500 and leads the team with 34 RBIs and four home runs.

“We played basketball together, and it was kind of sad to me that was really the only sport we played because Abby and Emily did soccer, but I played volleyball,” Calzadillas said. “They’re great teammates, they’re fun to play with and we know how to play with each other. We all have really good chemistry.”

ROAD TO STATE

Thornton, Calzadillas and Pendergast helped Ki-Be advance to the state regional basketball round in 2015.

The Bears traveled up to Wenatchee and lost to Cashmere, falling short of the 1A Hardwood Classic at the Yakima Valley SunDome.

“I don’t even consider it state, so for me, it’s like (softball) is the first sport I’ve been to state in,” Pendergast said.

Calzadillas, who played in the state volleyball tournament last fall in Yakima, has a different opinion.

“It was still the top 16,” she said. “I think it was just different perspectives. It’s not the dome, but it was good enough for me. We still got to stay in a hotel. We got the free dinner. It was cool.”

Missing out on that journey to the SunDome makes this year’s trip to the state softball tournament a bit sweeter for all three, even if they don’t have to go very far.

“I feel like we’ve wanted it every year, but this is the year where we all knew that we could reach it, so we pushed even harder for it,” Pendergast said.

Thornton’s father is in his fifth season coaching the Bears. His first year, they won five games. The next spring — Emily’s freshman season — they were 6-14. They hit double-digit victories in 2014 and 2015, and played in the district tournament last season.

“I think we’re getting some better athletes,” Dave Thornton said of the Bears’ improvement from year to year. “I think they’re more serious about it.”

His daughter was a strong player out of the gate for Ki-Be.

Thornton was an all-league second-team pick as a freshman. She made the first team her final three seasons, sharing the MVP award this year with Royal’s McDarra von Stein.

Thornton leads the Bears with a .603 batting average, seven triples, 54 runs scored and 38 stolen bases.

Pendergast’s freshman year was her first playing softball.

“It was exciting,” said Pendergast, who is batting .432 with a team-leading nine doubles. “(Coach) Thornton helped with a lot of things. He’d stay after and help me with the basics like hitting and fielding. And then the rest came naturally.”

THE RIGHT FIT

During the spring sports season, Calzadillas bounced around a bit. She played tennis her first two years, pairing up with older sister Jaky for doubles. They made it to state in Momo’s freshman year.

After Jaky graduated, Momo did track as a junior and went to state in the 4x400-meter relay.

This year, Calzadillas thought her sister Maloree, a freshman at Ki-Be, would be a good fit for the softball team. But apparently, they were a package deal.

“(Momo) actually texted me the week before practice started and said, ‘Um, so do you think it’d be OK if I played softball?’ ” Thornton said. “She’s like, ‘I really want Maloree to play because she’s really good and she’s not gonna play if I don’t play.’ They’ve been a huge help to our program.”

Playing at state together will be a memory all three seniors will hold close as they go off to different NWAC East Region schools in a couple of months.

Thornton will be on the soccer and softball teams at Walla Walla Community College, Calzadillas is set to play volleyball at Columbia Basin College, and Pendergast is going to Wenatchee Valley College for soccer.

“You always want things to happen, but sometimes they just don’t, and you get used to not always getting what you want,” Thornton said. “It still hasn’t hit me yet that we’re going to state.”

Friday, it will be a reality.

This story was originally published May 26, 2016 at 5:05 PM with the headline "Ki-Be seniors hope to cap careers in style at state softball tourney."