Everett softball falls to Sedro-Woolley in district championship
Published 1:30 am Friday, May 15, 2026
EVERETT — It was a disheartening end to an inspiring run.
After upsetting league rivals Snohomish and Stanwood en route to the District 1 3A Championship against Sedro-Woolley at Phil Johnson Ballfields on Thursday, Everett softball had already secured its spot in the state tournament. Now, the No. 8 seed Seagulls (14-10) wanted to cap things off with a trophy.
In the end, the No. 2 seed Cubs (21-2) and senior Kasandra Gonzalez proved to be on another level.
With 15 strikeouts, Gonzalez authored a no-hitter to shut down the Everett lineup en route to a 9-0 victory, capturing the district title after falling short to Stanwood one year ago.
“She’s a hard-throwing kid, and spins it really good,” Seagulls coach Mike Millar said about Gonzalez. “I was really impressed with how she was able to work side-to-side, and up-and-down. But yeah, her movement on her pitches was really good, and she’s an overpowering type of pitcher.
“That’s the bar, and now we get to work and prepare for that, and hopefully we see them next week.”
After gutting through a gauntlet of a Wesco North 3A/2A schedule, finishing fourth in the league at 5-5, Everett had avenged its series sweep to the top seed Snohomish with a 1-0 win in the quarterfinals before beating the No. 5 seed Stanwood 2-1 in the semifinals on Tuesday.
In six total matchups against the Panthers and Spartans, all were decided by three runs or fewer. According to junior Anna Luscher, who played a significant role in the circle and at the plate in both wins, that familiarity allowed the Seagulls to make the necessary adjustments to grind out wins when it mattered most.
“We faced their pitchers multiple times and we faced their lineups multiple times, so it helped give us information on what they’re going to throw and how to throw to their lineups,” Luscher said. “So I feel like our team and our coaching staff really tried to analyze what we already knew from playing them previously, and kind of bringing it into our games so we could make educated guesses on strategies that we could use to help us win.”
Luscher returned to the circle on Thursday, allowing four hits, four walks and four earned runs while striking out five across five innings. After striking out the first two batters she faced in a scoreless first inning, Luscher walked the leadoff batter in the second, and Sedro-Woolley senior Veanna Lanphere cranked a two-run homer two batters later to give the Cubs a 2-0 lead.
Sedro-Woolley increased the lead to 3-0 in the third on an error, and just when it seemed like the Seagulls could get some momentum going in the fifth, the Cubs instantly snuffed it out.
Sophomore Alyssa Iverson worked a leadoff walk, the only free base Gonzalez allowed all evening. Senior Emma Hoffman hit a hard line drive in the next at-bat, but it went straight to second baseman BriEllen Kononen, who managed to tag Iverson for the double play as she dove back for the bag.
“We’re a young team (with four sophomore starters), and a young player learning from that, on those line drives like that, you got to freeze,” Millar said. “And that’s why we’re here. That’s why we’re playing these great teams and these great players. It’ll make our girls better as we go for the rest of this year, and the years to come for those young kids.”
Sedro-Woolley pushed it to 4-0 with an RBI double from junior Reagan Evans in the bottom of the frame before getting two more runs across on an infield error. The Cubs scored three more in the bottom of the sixth to settle at a 9-0 final.
While losing in the title game left a sour taste in Everett’s mouth, it provided an example of what the young roster can expect in Lacey next week.
In Millar’s eyes, maintaining composure and sticking to the game plan no matter the situation will be the key things he looks for out of his group. Meanwhile, the players will head back to the lab and try to make the proper adjustments, just as they did to prepare for big stage matches against Snohomish and Stanwood.
“This is not the way that we wanted the game to go, obviously, but off nights happen,” Luscher said. “Anyone can win on any day, and (Sedro-Woolley) played amazing. They played great, and they deserved to win this game. So I think playing this game, especially with the younger players, it’s really beneficial for them to see another high-level team that we haven’t gotten the chance to play twice already.
“So I think that it’s a great learning experience for all of us, and I think that it’ll really make a difference for us going into state.”
