MONROE — Through nine innings at Monroe High School on Thursday, Stanwood softball and Monroe were engrossed in a classic pitcher’s duel. Spartans sophomore Addi Anderson and Bearcats freshman Addy Bryant authored a scoreless tie, each allowing just one hit through seven innings to force extras.
With no progress in the eighth or ninth, and the game briefly pausing for the stadium lights to brighten as the sun set in left field, it seemed as if this game would go all night.
But Anderson had other plans.
On top of pitching a gem in the circle, Anderson hit an RBI-double to center field in the top of the 10th inning, scoring the extra-innings automatic runner Jemma Lopez to finally break things open 1-0. With such little offense from either side until that point, Anderson almost couldn’t believe it as she watched the ball hit off the outfield wall.
‘No way, no way, no way. This is so crazy,’ Anderson thought to herself while rounding first. ‘Go Addi, go Addi, go!’
She strolled to second base and watched Lopez cross home plate. Anderson flexed her arms downward and shouted, “Let’s go!” as the Stanwood dugout erupted.
“I was just so happy that I could be able to get that run in for my team, especially because the score was 0-0,” Anderson said. “Just to get that one run felt amazing.”
Stanwood’s Addi Anderson poses on second base after getting a hit during the game against Monroe on Thursday, May 1, 2025 in Monroe, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
The hit sparked a four-run rally, capped by a two-run home run from senior Megan Stulc (1-for-4, HR, 2 RBI), to lift the Spartans (15-2, 5-1) to a 4-1 win against the Bearcats (11-6, 5-2).
Anderson finished with 11 strikeouts across 10 innings, allowing four hits plus two walks and a hit-by-pitch. At the plate, she went 1-for-4 with her go-ahead RBI-double and one run scored.
“Just a dominant performance,” Stanwood coach Patrick Ryan said of Anderson. “(She) did what we asked her to do on almost every batter, pretty close to 99 percent of them. She just, for being so young, really showed a lot of poise and grit and determination to continue to locate her pitches. If she wasn’t getting the strike out, she’s pitching to contact.”
For Monroe, Bryant (2-for-4) allowed just two hits before Stanwood got four straight in the 10th. She finished with three strikeouts and no walks.
Bryant held off the Spartan bats for so long, but the floodgates opened with Anderson’s RBI. Sophomore Jordan Rancourt (2-for-4) singled to right field to advance Anderson to third, and junior Taylor Almanza (1-for-3) reached first on a 4-6 fielder’s choice as Anderson scored. The Bearcats nearly turned a double play to end the inning down 1-0, but a throwing error kept it alive.
It cost Monroe dearly, as Stulc mashed her two-run shot in the next plate appearance to provide the Spartans a couple of massive insurance runs. After striking out in her first two at-bats, Stulc credited her teammates for keeping her in the fight as the game wore on.
“The team picked me up, definitely,” Stulc said. “I’ve been struggling hitting at the plate until that last inning. It really got exciting, and they picked me up.”
Stanwood’s Megan Stulc smiles as she runs the bases after hitting a home run in extra innings during the game against Monroe on Thursday, May 1, 2025 in Monroe, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Even with a 4-0 lead, there was still work to be done for Stanwood. Monroe junior Brooke Boswell (2-for-3, RBI) hit an RBI-single to shallow left field after Bryant pushed the automatic runner to third with a single of her own in the previous at-bat.
After the Bearcats cut it to 4-1 with only one out, two runners on and the tying run at the plate, Lopez approached Anderson in the circle from third base.
“You got this. I have your back,” she told her.
“That instantly made me think, ‘She has my back, so I have to get hers,’” Anderson said after the game. “So then I was like, ‘Yeah I got you too,’ and then everyone else around me said it, so then I was like ‘Ok, I can trust myself to pitch a ball and be able for them to get it.’”
Turns out, the Stanwood infielders didn’t have to. Anderson punched out the next two batters to notch her 10th and 11th strikeouts, stranding two runners and securing a gutsy win.
Final: Stanwood wins 4-1 after 10
Monroe gets a run across the plate but Anderson picks up her 10th and 11th strike out to strand two runners with the tying run at the plate. Nails.
Big win for the Spartans@HeraldNetPreps— Joe Pohoryles (@Joe_Poho) May 2, 2025
Stanwood nearly got on the board in the ninth inning when Lopez attempted a sacrifice fly to score sophomore Olivia Dahl at third, but Monroe center fielder Izzy Webster launched a perfect throw to catcher Scarlett Nagy to get the tag and keep the game scoreless.
“Olivia Dahl has great speed and knows what to do in that situation,” Ryan said. “She did what we asked, she didn’t hesitate. She was relentless to home, and they made a great play. And we want these opportunities to get our kids in these moments so they know what it feels like whether we succeed or we fail.”
Monroe’s Scarlett Nagy tags out Stanwood’s Olivia Dahl as she tries to slide into home plate on Thursday, May 1, 2025 in Monroe, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Grinding out a win like that not only provided valuable close-game experience for the postseason, but also solidified a quarterfinal spot in the upcoming District 1 3A Softball Tournament. Stanwood now sits atop the Wesco North 3A/2A standings, with Monroe in second.
The Spartans will not have to participate in the play-in rounds next Friday, which not only makes the path to the title game and state tournament a little easier, but it also provides an extra benefit to the seniors on the team.
“I get to go to prom now,” Stulc said, with the dance coinciding with the play-in games on May 9. “We’re going to be a top seed in Districts, probably, so that’s pretty neat.”
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