Softball players to watch
Published 9:43 pm Saturday, March 8, 2008
Cory Mattson
Everett
Senior Pitcher
Mattson has already set school records for career strikeouts (with 633) and career victories (with 54), accomplishments that become all the more impressive when you realize she has yet to play a single game of her senior year. Mattson helped the Seagulls to three straight state tournament berths (Everett went 2-2 in state last year as 3A District 1’s second seed) and will play for the University of North Carolina-Greensboro Spartans next year. The winner of the Herald’s Softball Player of the Year award as a sophomore in 2006, Mattson also knows a thing or two about offense, having set school records for home runs in a season, triples in a season, doubles in a season and runs batted in in a season.
Becca Bean
Lakewood
Senior Catcher
Becca Bean made First Team All-League in the Cascade Conference as freshman, and did it again last year as a junior. A four-year starter, Bean led the Cougars last year in hits, stolen bases and runs scored, and set a Lakewood record by posting a .493 batting average.
Ashley Todd
Jackson
Senior Shortstop
Ashley Todd is a four-year starter for Jackson and a 2007 First Team Wesco South selection. Coach Michael Moran calls Todd “one of the most respected players in all of Wesco both on and off the field,” and credits the senior with being a fundamental part of Jackson’s success (the Timberwolves have won Wesco South every year Todd has played and earned District 1 state berths in 2005 and 2007.) A member of the Lake Breeze Gold ASA Summer Team, Todd has accepted a scholarship to play for Penn State University in 2009.
Elizabeth Jusko
Snohomish
Senior Infielder
Utility player Elizabeth Jusko was a First Team Wesco North selection last year as a designated hitter. In 2007 Jusko contributed a .414 batting average, a .552 slugging percentage, a .476 on-base percentage and had a team-high eight doubles.
Jordan Birch
Monroe
Senior Pitcher
Briar Stanley
Monroe
Junior Catcher
What do you get when you combine a pitcher that won The Herald’s 2007 Softball Player of the Year award with a catcher that leads her team in batting percentage, home runs and RBI? If you are the Monroe Bearcats, you get the deadly one-two punch that led to a 4A District 1 championship in 2007. Jordan Birch pitched the first perfect game in Monroe’s history against Everett last season, and followed that up by pitching another one against Cascade a few weeks later. The Illinois State-bound senior faced 671 batters, threw 271 strikeouts and doled out just 20 walks while posting a minuscule 0.36 ERA. Briar Stanley added a .425 batting average and 22 RBI and batted 2-for-3 with three RBI in an April match against Everett ace Cory Mattson.
Alex Bosworth, Herald Writer
