EVERETT — Cedarcrest’s Michaela Carter may be just a freshman, but she’s had a big impact on the Red Wolves’ softball season.
On Wednesday, she helped deliver a Cascade Conference championship.
Carter, who is batting .544 in her first high school season, finished 2-for-4 with three RBI to lead the Red Wolves to an 8-6 win over Archbishop Murphy which clinched the regular-season championship.
“We do it as a team,” Cedarcrest head coach Gary Damron said. “We don’t have any real dominant pitching, so every game different players step up and help out. It’s just a solid defensive and a solid offensive team. I have no doubts in my mind that when we get behind that we’ll get back ahead. That’s how strong we are offensively. It means just a ton to the kids. They’ve worked really hard this season to get where they’re at and I’m really, really proud of them.”
Carter helped the Red Wolves take an early lead in the top of first inning with an inside-the-park home run. Archbishop Murphy countered in the bottom of the inning with a home run from senior Alyson Matriotti.
Cedarcrest (15-2 league, 16-3 overall) added a run in both the second and third innings to take a 3-1 lead, but it was the fourth inning when the Red Wolves broke the game open.
Junior Maddie Nixon’s two-run single gave Cedarcrest a 5-1 lead and senior Hailey Lacher followed with a sacrifice fly that made the score 6-1 going into the bottom half of the inning.
Archbishop Murphy cut the deficit to three runs in the bottom of the fourth inning, scoring a run on an RBI double by Natalie Hayward. Hayward scored later in the inning on a throwing error to make the score 6-3.
But Carter stepped up for her team once again. Her two-run double in the top of the fifth inning made the score 8-3.
“She leads the team in double right now,” Damron said. “Her speed is just phenomenal.”
Damron said one of his team’s biggest strengths is answering adversity by putting runs on the board.
“That’s what we’re best at,” Damron said. “I have no doubt that these kids can come back after they score some runs. Not having a dominant pitching staff, that’s where we win most of our games — defensively and being able to score runs.”
Archbishop Murphy started another comeback attempt in the bottom of the fifth inning when junior Kate Zwiefel led off the inning with a bunt single. Matriotti followed with a line drive that likely would have gone for extra bases, but senior shortstop Kayla Blakslee made the catch and doubled up Zwiefel at first base.
“It was huge,” Damron said of the play. “Anytime we can keep those kids off the base paths…It’s kind of a known fact that if their No. 1 and No. 2 hitters get on base that they’re going to score. If we can keep those kids off the base paths, it’s great.”
Matriotti led the Wildcats’ offense, finishing the game 3-for-4 with double and a home run.
“For her to start out hitting that home run, it kind of just boosted our team up that much more,” Archbishop Murphy head coach Stephanie Harmon said. “I think with Alyson being able to lead the team with what she does at the plate, it just kind of kept our emotions high.”
The Wildcats, who could have moved into a first-place tie with the Red Wolves with a win, were playing without senior starting pitcher Baylee Robertson, who recently injured her knee and is likely out for the season according to Harmon.
Sophomore Rose Gonzalez stepped into the starting pitching role and Harmon is pleased with what she’s seen so far.
“She’s only been able to pitch a couple of innings over the past year and this was her first time having to pitch on Monday,” Harmon said. “She’s stepped up and done an excellent job for us. I have great confidence that she can take us all the way. I have great confidence in her, she’s done a great job and she throws well.”
Should Granite Falls (13-4 league, 14-5 overall) and Archbishop Murphy (13-4, 14-5) both win on Friday, the Tigers will be the No. 2 seed from the Cascade Conference and the Wildcats will be the league’s No. 3 seed in next week’s district tournament.
At Archbishop Murphy H.S.
WP: Cassidy Derieg (RBI). LP: Rose Gonzalez. Individual highlights: Cedarcrest—Michaela Carter (2-4, HR, 2B, 3 RBI), Morgan Brown (2-4, 2B), Maddie Nixon (2 RBI), Hailey Lacher (RBI), Elaine Townley (RBI), Hailey Hoke (3B); Archbishop Murphy—Alyson Matriotti (3-4, HR, 2B, 2 RBI), Makenzie Treece (1-3, RBI), Natalie Hayward (2B, RBI). Records—Cedarcrest 15-2 league, 16-3 overall. Archbishop Murphy 13-4, 14-5.
Aaron Lommers covers prep sports for The Herald. Follow him on Twitter at @aaronlommers and contact him at alommers@heraldnet.com.
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