SPOKANE — Whether the games were high or low scoring, the Snohomish High School softball team showed Saturday it can win the close ones. As a result the Panthers can now call themselves state champions.
Snohomish claimed the first 4A state softball title in school history by defeating the Woodinville Falcons 8-6 in the championship game at Merkel Sports Complex. The Panthers defeated Puyallup 1-0 in the semifinals earlier in the day to reach the championship contest.
“It feels fantastic,” Snohomish coach Lou Kennedy said. “For years I’ve been looking at our gym in Snohomish and all the banners hanging there, and there wasn’t one for softball. So this feels great, and it’s great for the girls. They just came to play perfect, and they did. They earned every bit of it, I’m very proud of them.”
Joy Winston and Rylie Wales both homered for Snohomish (23-3) in the championship game, while Alyssa Simons earned the win in the circle to cap off a weekend in which she pitched the Panthers to victory in all four of their contests.
“The thing I liked is that it didn’t really matter what the score was or what the situation was, they played every inning and every out,” Kennedy said. “They never let up. They put pressure on in every single game.”
That was never more true than in the championship game against Woodinville (21-5). Snohomish found itself behind early as Woodinville’s Olivia Riener slugged a three-run homer in the top of the third inning to stake the Falcons to a 3-0 lead.
However, the Panthers replied with eight consecutive runs to take control of the game.
Snohomish first answered immediately in the bottom of the third, with Winston and Wales each delivering two-out RBI singles as the Panthers tied it at 3-3.
Then Snohomish busted out in the bottom of the fourth. The Panthers again scored all their runs with two out. First, Simons broke the deadlock with an RBI double. Then Winston and Wales slugged back-to-back homers — Winston’s being a three-run blast, Wales’ being a solo shot — as Snohomish went ahead 8-3.
The Panthers then had to hang on at the end. Woodinville got another three-run homer, this time from Skylar Hein in the top of the seventh, and the Falcons later brought the tying run to the plate. But Simons was able to close it out to give Snohomish the championship.
“It was an intense game,” Kennedy said. “We played each other earlier in the year (a game won by Woodinville 3-2) and we played each other last year, so we had a good feel for each other. Both teams have power, and both teams made the other team pay. But we strung some hits together when we needed to. It was a well-played game, both teams played extremely well.”
The Panthers reached the title game by handing Puyallup its first loss of the season. In a game that featured just three hits by each team, the only run was scored by Snohomish’s Sami Reynolds in the bottom of the sixth inning via a bases-loaded error. Simons struck out nine in pitching a three-hit shutout.
Snohomish 1, Puyallup 0
At Merkel Sports Complex
WP:Alyssa Simons (7 IP, 9 K). LP: Kennedy Robillard. Records—Snohomish 22-3, Puyallup 25-1.
Snohomish 8, Woodinville 6
At Merkel Sports Complex
WP: Alyssa Simons. LP: Lauryn Rhinehart. Individual highlights: Snohomish—Joy Winston (4-4, HR, 4 RBI); Rylie Wales (2-3, HR); Simons (2-4). Woodinville—Olivia Riener (2-4, HR, 3 RBI); Skylar Hein (HR, 3 RBI). Records—Snohomish 23-3, Woodinville 21-5.
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