Stanwood softball cruises past Edmonds-Woodway

Published 12:35 am Tuesday, March 31, 2026

STANWOOD — Initially, all Laylah Cosek wanted to do was move her teammate over to third base.

In Stanwood softball’s matchup against Edmonds-Woodway at Mike Chandler Field on Monday, Jemma Lopez led off the bottom of the first inning with an infield single. With Cosek at the plate, the speedy junior infielder stole second. On two separate pitches, Cosek set up her bat to try and bunt Lopez even closer to home, but the sophomore pulled back both times to take a ball. On the next pitch, she changed things up.

“Through my mind, since I knew it was going to be a slower (velocity) pitcher, I just kept my foot down,” Cosek said. “Then I just went with the pitch, and that was it.”

With a full swing, Cosek belted the ball into left field for an RBI double to score Lopez, and senior Taylor Almanza hit an RBI groundout to bring Cosek home three batters later to give Stanwood an early 2-0 lead.

The Spartans (6-0) took that jump and ran with it behind stellar pitching from junior Addi Anderson to claim a 7-1 win against the Warriors (2-5).

In their first season since winning the District 1 3A Championship and reaching the 3A State quarterfinals as the top seed, Stanwood has not skipped a beat.

“I think the culture was well-set by the previous classes, not just this last (senior) class,” Spartans coach Patrick Ryan said. “And these young ladies have done a good job picking up where those upperclassmen have left off. I think that’s the biggest key, is that there’s just a standard here at Stanwood that we try to meet each and every day, and they’ve done a good job of buying into that so far this season.”

While the program graduated a pair of Wesco All-League First Team selections in Rubi Lopez and Reagan Ryan, it returned Anderson — The Herald’s 2025 All-Area Softball Pitcher of the Year — who pitched a complete game on Monday. Anderson struck out 11 batters, and according to The Herald’s scoring, allowed just two hits, one walk and one run.

After setting a high bar in her sophomore season, Anderson is focusing on putting more trust in the fielders behind her and taking the pressure off her own shoulders. While she’s had little trouble sitting down opposing batters, she understands she does not have to do it all on her own.

Even after allowing Edmonds-Woodway’s first batter to reach base on an error, Stanwood immediately turned a double play to erase the mistake. Freshman Bella Swanson worked a walk on a full count to give the Warriors another base-runner, but Anderson responded by retiring each of the next 11 batters. When sophomore Audrey Sommer broke up the streak with a single in the fifth inning, Anderson struck out the next two batters to send it to the bottom of the frame.

“I have full trust in (our defense),” Anderson said. “But it’s like letting them get more ground balls, and not (thinking) that everything’s on me, and letting them have my back because they got me. They always do. … Every time I go into the circle, I just need to keep it smooth, keep it calm. Like they got me if (the opposing team) gets a hit, and it’s just been working.”

Offensively, Lopez (3-for-4) and Almanza (2-for-3) each drove in two runs, and Cosek went 2-for-4 with two runs scored and an RBI. As one of three seniors on the team, Almanza praised juniors like Lopez and Anderson for stepping up as more vocal leaders this season. Cosek echoed that praise, crediting them for helping her come into her own during her first season on varsity.

“It definitely has been just a show of how much work I’m putting in,” said Cosek, who hit in the second spot of the order on Monday. “I’m really glad that I get to be on the team, and obviously like Taylor said, a lot of the juniors have been helping me just with my swing, my approach, so it’s really good and nice.”

For Edmonds-Woodway, Sommer went 2-for-3 and drove in the only run, and freshman Madi Kinzel allowed eight hits and no walks while striking out four in a complete-game effort.

After winning Wesco South 3A/2A and reaching the 3A State Tournament last season, the Warriors experienced significant roster turnover. With just four upperclassmen on the roster of 16, Edmonds-Woodway has understandably dealt with some growing pains out of the gate in 2026.

Despite the loss, coach Josh McClure believes Monday was the team’s best overall game of the season, and that Kinzel pitched much better than the final score would suggest. As the young roster keeps building experience, he expects the defense to straighten out and help the team build on its 1-0 league record.

“We came up here knowing we were going to face a very good, very well-coached team, and they’re just that,” McClure said. “The girls gave them a great run, and (if) we clean up a few things (then) this is a little bit (of a) different look.”

As Anderson mowed down the Warriors from the circle, Almanza extended the lead to 3-0 with an RBI single after Cosek reached first on an infield single in the third inning. A wild pitch and a groundout from Anderson pushed Cosek over to third, and Almanza’s deep shot into the outfield allowed her to breeze home.

Lopez sparked another insurance run in the fifth, doubling to left field before taking the next two bases on back-to-back groundouts. Lopez slid into home on the second one to extend the lead to 4-0.

After playing a regular role in the infield as a sophomore last year, Lopez has stepped into a bigger role as the leadoff hitter and shortstop this year. The player she replaced in both spots: her older sister, Rubi, who now plays for Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles.

“Jemma’s done a fantastic job coming in and knowing the standard and knowing how to communicate and knowing how to be cooperative with her teammates,” Ryan said. “I think that’s one good thing this team has culturally, is good cooperation amongst each other. … Jemma has been instrumental in that fact of helping other players, younger players, move into the roles they have.”

Edmonds-Woodway found some life in the sixth inning after sophomore Olivia Jones reached first on an error, but Stanwood catcher Jordan Rancourt caught her stealing during the next at-bat. Anderson induced two more grounders to send it into the seventh.

In the Spartans’ final go at the plate, Almanza led off with a double to right-center, and junior Brooklyn Whitehall looped a single to left field over the third baseman’s glove to score her. Junior Olivia Dahl continued the rally with a bunt single, and Lopez showed off her power with a two-run double off the center field wall to extend it to 7-0.

“I think just making small adjustments,” Almanza said about her approach at the plate. “In the past, I tried to do too much. So just staying simple, not trying to change too much in my head, but recognizing my swing from pitch to pitch and adjusting.”

The Warriors spoiled Anderson’s shutout when Sommer scored Swanson with a double to center, but Anderson was unfazed. She struck out each of the other three batters to lock up the win.

“Honestly, I wasn’t worried about it,” Anderson said. “I was like, ‘You know what? That was good on her.’ … There’s nothing you can really do about it, and I got to give credit to her because it was a good hit, but I mean, like again, I know my team has my back, so that one play didn’t really mean anything.”

The Spartans already picked up one league win with a 13-0 victory against Marysville Pilchuck on March 25, but they understand they’ll have their hands full down the line in what Ryan described as a “gauntlet” Wesco North 3A/2A.

“I think we’re in a ‘one game at a time’ mentality right now,” Ryan said. “We’re just trying to focus on what we can control day in and day out. Looking at the whole picture, (we) can’t do that yet.”