LYNNWOOD — The last time the Everett and Meadowdale softball teams squared off, the Seagulls prevailed 15-1. Not only was that one-sided outcome a year ago an embarrassment, it also kept Meadowdale from winning a coveted district championship.
On Thursday afternoon the Mavericks were in a mood for vengeance.
In a showdown of Wesco 3A division leaders, Meadowdale pounded out nine hits, including two home runs, and took advantage of three walks, a hit batter and three Everett errors in an 11-1 five-inning romp. The victory improves the Mavericks to 10-0 in league play, 12-0 overall.
Not only did the Seagulls win last season’s district championship game, they also defeated Meadowdale in the regular season. Heading into Thursday’s game “we wanted (revenge) bad, so the girls came ready to play,” said Mavericks coach Dennis Hopkins.
Meadowdale took command early, getting a three-run home run in the first inning from catcher Emma Helm and then sending 10 batters to the plate in a seven-run second.
All that was more than enough offense for Mavericks starting pitcher Lauren Dent, who checked Everett on just three hits with five strikeouts and a walk. Those hits all came in the fourth inning when the Seagulls pushed across their only run.
“An excellent performance today (from Dent),” Hopkins said. “She just keeps getting better and better the more she throws. And when she’s on, she’s totally on.”
The funny thing is, Meadowdale’s 11 runs actually lowered the team’s runs-per-game average. The Mavericks have scored in double figures in all 12 games and average 14.1 runs per game while hitting a total of 18 home runs.
“(The offense) just keeps rolling,” Hopkins said. “I don’t know what they do, but they just seem to figure out how to hit that ball. I mean, we work on hitting every day, but they just seem to get better and better at it. It doesn’t seem to matter what (type of) pitcher it is. … All through the lineup, they can all hit.”
Helm showed off her power in the first inning, connecting on a changeup from Everett starting pitcher Sydney Taggart and launching the ball over the fence in left-center field. “I know that Sydney has a good changeup,” Helm said, but after getting a sign from a teammate at second base “I kind of knew it was coming.”
Helm ended up 2-for-3 with three runs and four RBI. Leadoff hitter Kaitlyn Webster was 3-for-3 with three runs, and Samantha Gregoryk smacked a solo homer in the second.
Meadowdale has been to state the past four seasons and going forward, Helm said, “I think we could have an undefeated season, win districts and get back to state again.”
The Mavericks have eight league games remaining and “everybody wants us,” Hopkins said, “so we have to stay on our game the whole way. But I like our chances. I’d like to say we could (win) them all, but any team any day can beat you.”
Everett coach Mike Millar said his team knew Meadowdale “would be pretty fired up after our battles last year. They’ve got a bunch of girls that we know can hit the ball, and they have good pitching. So this (game) was a good barometer of where we need to get.
“We’ve got a lot of work ahead of us to try to close the gap, and hopefully over the next few weeks before the postseason we can work out the kinks,” he said.
At Meadowdale H.S.
WP: Lauren Dent (5 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 5 K, 1 BB). LP: Sydney Taggart. Individual highlights: Everett—Rachel Christensen (1-2, 1 R); Meadowdale—Kaitlyn Webster (3-3, 2 R), Julia Reuble (1-2, 2 R), Emma Helm (2-3, 3 R, 4 RBI, HR), Lauren Wallace (2-2, 1 RBI, 1 R, 2B), Samantha Gregoryk (1-3, HR, 1 RBI). Records—Everett 8-3 league, 10-4 overall. Meadowdale 10-0, 12-0.
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