By Aaron Lommers Herald Writer
MONROE — Someone tell Abigail Otto that she is just a freshman.
The Marysville Pilchuck third baseman played like a seasoned veteran on Tuesday, leading the Tomahawks to a 2-1 victory over top-seeded Arlington in a 4A District 1 softball semifinal game.
The Tomahawks advance to the state tournament and play Monroe for the district championship at 5 p.m. Thursday at Sky River Park in Monroe.
The Bearcats earned their way into the state tournament by defeating Snohomish 11-8 in Tuesday’s other semifinal.
Runs were harder to come by in the MP-Arlington game — and Otto played a role in both of the Tomahawks that crossed the plate. Otto hit a double in the top of the third inning and later scored on a Haley Fritz single to give Marysville a 1-0 lead.
The lead didn’t last long. Arlington starting pitcher Ronnie Ladines hit an RBI double in the bottom of the third inning to tie the score 1-1. The two teams remained tied until the final inning when Otto delivered again, hitting an RBI double in the top of the seventh.
“The kid is clutch,” Marysville Pilchuck head coach Aaron Zachry said. “She’s stepped up as a freshman this year.”
Otto was excited to make it to state in her first high-school season.
“It means a lot to me because it was hard coming in as a freshman,” Otto said. “I know it means a lot to them (the rest of the team) and the seniors and everything. We didn’t think that we would make it this year, but we did really good.”
On the biggest stage the Tomahawks had played all season, they didn’t appear fazed by what was on the line, instead showing perseverance overtaking the Eagles in the final inning.
“The kids played hard,” Zachry said. “They kept in the game and I told them to stay focused. ‘If you keep the game close, good things will happen.’ And that happened today.”
It was the first time in three attempts the Tomahawks have been able to defeat the Eagles this season.
Eagles head coach Lonnie Hicks gave credit to Marysville, but was disappointed in his team’s performance.
“We really came out here and we were not focused,” Hicks said. “We were not focused. We did not play the way we normally play. That’s the bottom line. Our hitting — everybody was waiting for somebody else to get something done and just expecting it to happen.”
Helping stifle the Eagles’ powerful lineup was Tomahawks’ starter Monica Clow, who not only pitched a complete game five-hitter against Arlington, but did so after she pitched a complete game in the Tomahawks opening round victory over Kamiak earlier Tuesday afternoon.
Zachry called Clow’s performance “awesome.”
The Tomahawks advance to state as the third seed from the Wesco North and they are joined by another surprise team, Monroe, which was the fourth seed from the North coming into the tournament.
The Bearcats got hot at the right time, defeating Cascade 7-0 in the opening round and hanging on in a slugfest over Snohomish.
“We played two back-to-back games and played well,” Monroe coach Curt Eskeback said. “They rose to the occasion.”
After both teams scored upset victories over top-seeded on Tuesday, it could be a challenge to get the team’s ready for the district championship game.
“We will sit down and talk about it and discuss it,” Zachry said. “We will tell them that the district title is still out there, even though we are going to state, it’s still sitting there.”
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M. Pilchuck 2, Arlington 1
At Sky River Park
Marysville Pilchuck0010001—261
Arlington0010000—152
Clow and Christensen. Ladines and Amundson. WP—Clow (15-6). LP—Ladines. 2B—Otto (MP) 2, Ladines (A). Records—Marysville Pilchuck 16-6 overall. Arlington 19-3.
Monroe 11, Snohomish 8
At Sky River Park
Monroe1033040—11123
Snohomish2003210—881
Egan and Delamar. Winston, Seek (4), Winston (6) and Greenlee. WP—Egan. LP—Seek. 2B—Melhart (S), Pisac (S), Delamare (M) 2, Sundet (M). 3B—Egan (M). HR—Larson (M), Sundet (M). Records—Monroe 14-8 overall. Snohomish 17-5.
Cascade 10, Jackson 9
At Sky River Park
Jackson1020123—9100
Cascade002503x—10110
Jessica Roy and Dewey Davis. Makinlee Sellevold and Alex Deaver. WP—Sellevold. LP—Roy. 2B—Megan Miller (C), Paige Miller (C), Megan Cooley (J) 2. 3B—Cooley (J). HR—Sellevold (C), Courtnie Gallardo (C), Roy (J), Davis (J), Juliana Faulconer (C). Records—Jackson 8-13 overall. Cascade 15-7.
Kamiak 5, Edmonds-Woodway 2
At Sky River Park
Edmonds-Woodway0001010—293
Kamiak000032x—5101
S. Jackson and Orstad. Ortega, McFall (6) and Druery. WP—Ortega. LP—Jackson. 2B—Haub (K), Rumpel (E-W), Bailey (E-W). 3B—Jackson (E-W). HR—McFall (K). Records—Edmonds-Woodway 6-16 overall. Kamiak 11-11.
Snohomish 15, Jackson 5
At Sky River Park
Snohomish41271xx—15130
Jackson20300xx—542
Seek, Winston (4) and Greenlee. Roy, Bueser (4), Faulconer (4) and Ellis. WP—Seek. LP—Roy. 2B—Roy (J), Melhart (S), Pisac (S), Bates-Mundell (S). HR—Cooley (J).
Arlington 6, Edmonds-Woodway 0
At Sky River Park
Edmonds-Woodway0000000—033
Arlington0000600—6100
S. Jackson and C. Orstad. Fields and Amundson. WP—Fields. LP—S. Jackson. 2B—V. Bailey (E-W), Amundson (A), Campbell (A), Botten (A).
Marysville Pilchuck 6, Kamiak 3
At Sky River Park
Marysville Pilchuck0001401—690
Kamiak2000001—381
Clow and Christensen. McFall and Drury. WP—Clow. LP—McFall. 2B—Nickolson (MP), Haub (K), McFall (K). 3B—Haub (K).
Monroe 7, Cascade 0
At Sky River Park
Monroe0000205—762
Cascade0000000—053
Egan and Delamare. Sellevold and Deaver. WP—Egan. LP—Sellevold.
