TACOMA — As North Kitsap and Decatur were dueling it out for a state berth in the eighth inning of a scoreless tie game Saturday, the Vikings had their chance.

With two out and a runner on third base, Coreena Stout appeared on her way to a walk, with a 3-0 count.

The signal from North coach Dan Kolda and his son and assistant coach, Mike, proved otherwise.

Swing away.

The mammoth cut Stout took on the next pitch was indicative of the entire weekend for the North Kitsap Vikings fastpitch team: when you’ve got nothing to lose, swing for the fences.

Stout’s hard grounder to second was just enough to earn the junior an infield base-hit and score the game-winning RBI that earned NK a 1-0 win and its first ever trip to the state tournament, to be held this weekend.

The victory still hasn’t registered with coach Kolda or his team, who, at one point in the season, weren’t even anticipating going into the playoffs.

“I don’t know what the words are to describe this,” he said. “This is totally unexpected. Shocked is an understatement.”

North Kitsap played five games in two days with some of the best fastpitch teams in the state, accumulating a 3-2 record. Stout proved to be the player of the tournament, Kolda commented, going 10-for-15 overall, including the state-berth attaining-RBI.

“She was on another planet,” Kolda said.

He noted his team’s ability to adapt to each situation over the course of the weekend and never give up hope that their opponents would and could break down was the reason NK is alive for another weekend of play.

“These are the most intelligent ball players I’ve ever coached,” Kolda said. “They proved that the best teams eventually do break down.”

North Kitsap 4, Prairie 3, played May 27

North Kitsap took the Falcons to 3-3 going into extra innings, with Viking pitcher Rachael Kramer keeping one of the best hitting clubs in the state in limbo with what Kolda called a tailing outside pitch that Prairie couldn’t handle.

“I give Rachael all the credit in the world on this one,” he said.

The difference came in the ninth with Chrystal Camus on third base. Molly McCluskey, who had just been given clearance the day before to bat with an injured finger, managed to run out an infield single — complete with a headfirst dive — to score Camus.

“To do it against a class program like Prairie is really a feather in our cap,” Kolda said.

Wilson 6, North Kitsap 1, played May 27

Their upset win appeared to have drained the life right out of North, despite the fact that an additional win against Wilson would have drawn the Vikings their first ever state appearance. Combined with 90 degree heat late Friday, NK just couldn’t handle the Rams.

“I think the intensity (of the first game) and the heat wore us out,” Kolda said. “The girls were just flat.”

North Kitsap 7, Olympia 0, played May 28

Driven by a Kramer grand slam in the third inning, the Vikings came to life early Saturday, slamming the Olympia Bears 7-0. Kolda commented that the game proved North Kitsap was not a fluke at the district tournament.

“There’s no doubt about it, the tone was we got lucky,” Kolda said of the Prairie game. “And that was the tone against Olympia, the feeling was we were a fluke. It was time to see if we had heart, if we were real. The game proved can play with anybody.”

Kramer and catcher Melody Griffin went two-for-four, Stout was three-for-five and Camus went two-for-three in the game.

North Kitsap 1, Decatur 0, played May 28

Kolda admitted that North Kitsap was looking past the Golden Gators but that was before Stout played, in the Viking coach’s estimation, the “game of her life.” Stout kept the Federal Way club scoreless all the way, and then provided the game winning RBI. Following a single by McCluskey in the extra eighth inning, Kirshell Welsh, a speedy sophomore, was put on to run for the senior. Stout, who went an unheard of 10-for-15 in the district tournament, hit a hard ground ball to second, one she beat out with a dive to first base as Welsh crossed home plate.

Decatur, who had just knocked out both Central and South Kitsap teams, was looking for a county sweep.

“It was absolute war and an absolute shocker,” Kolda said. “Though they had just eliminated South and Central Kitsap, our girls decided they wanted to play ball.”

Prairie 6, North Kitsap 2, played May 28

The Vikings once again met the Falcons in a seeding game for state but succumbed to a 6-2 loss.

“We were just happy to be going to state,” Kolda said. “We were already content with the weekend.”

North Kitsap will play at 11 a.m. June 3 versus the Shadle Park Highlanders of Spokane. Kolda commented the team, which had 195 runs in the season while giving up just 11, “makes Prairie look like Bremerton.”

Despite the rough competition, he added that North will just continue in its mentality that the team’s got nothing to lose.

“The team’s keep getting bigger and better,” he said. “But we are so far above where we were planning on being that it doesn’t matter. We’re going after one big dog after another in the state tournament.”