Tate sisters each go deep in Centennial’s win over Faith Lutheran

Centennial junior Kiana Tate hit a no-doubt-about-it home run in the fourth inning Wednesday.

Jaden Tate wasn’t about to be outdone by her younger sister.

The Tate sisters homered in the same game for the first time in their high school careers, and Centennial’s softball team rolled to an 8-1 victory over visiting Faith Lutheran.

“Being the older sister, I had to come back,” Jaden Tate said. “I can’t let her beat me at the end of the season.”

Kiana Tate’s solo drive gave the third-ranked Bulldogs (22-12, 12-5 Northwest League) a 7-1 lead, and Jaden Tate capped the scoring with a solo homer in the fifth.

Jaden Tate finished 2-for-3 and added a triple. Seanna Simpson was 3-for-4 with an RBI, and Brianna Benoit finished 2-for-3 with a double and a run for Centennial.

Faith Lutheran (14-11, 7-10) was eliminated from contention for the Northwest’s No. 4 seed in the Sunset Region tournament that begins next week.

“We had a few good stingers,” Centennial coach Mike Livreri said. “When we’re a good hitting team, we’re driving balls gap to gap. We did a little of that today.”

Centennial loaded the bases with no outs to open the second inning before Haylee Lupinetti lined a two-run single to center.

Skyler Ball followed with a run-scoring single, and a throwing error on the play allowed Lupinetti to come home. Ball then scored on a wild pitch to put the Bulldogs on top 6-0.

Centennial starter Abby Hanley tossed a complete game, scattering eight hits and striking out seven.

Hanley had pitched 5 1/3 innings all season before getting the start Wednesday.

“I thought she put some good effort out there,” Livreri said. “We felt like it was a spot we could get her a game, and we’ll probably have to rely on her at some point in the playoffs, so we wanted to give her some valuable innings while we could.”

Clara Heislen was 3-for-4 with a double, and Audrey Kirsch was 2-for-3 with a double for Faith Lutheran.

The Crusaders’ run came in the fourth when Maggie Whipple was hit by a pitch and scored via a fielding error on Kirsch’s single.

Contact David Schoen at dschoen@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-5203. Follow @DavidSchoenLVRJ on Twitter.