SPOKANE — It’s been two decades, but the Edmonds Community College softball team is finally bringing home another trophy.
The Tritons won their first trophy in 20 years when they finished third at the Northwest Athletic Conference Softball Championship, which concluded Monday.
The last time Edmonds finished in the top four was in 1998, when the Tritons took second. Since then Edmonds went through some lean years, including a stretch from 2007-13 when the Tritons won just three games in seven seasons.
This season saw Edmonds return to prominence. The Tritons (42-8) finished first in the North Region, broke the school record for victories in a season and earned the No. 3 seed to the NWAC tournament. Edmonds then won its first three games in Spokane to reach the finals of the winners’ bracket, before losses to eventual champion North Idaho on Sunday and Lower Columbia on Monday ended the Tritons’ hope of a championship.
Two Edmonds players were named NFCA All-Americans: sophomore pitcher/designated player Seli Aholelei (27-4, 3.18 ERA as a pitcher, .512, 14 homers, 71 RBI as a batter), who was also named the North Region Pitcher of the Year, and freshman second baseman Chantelle Shimabukuro (.475, four homers, 60 RBI). Edmonds also had three other players named first-team North Region, those being sophomore shortstop Tamia Hirano (.401, four homers, 63 RBI), freshman outfielder Kamalei Labasan (.401, four homers, 40 RBI) and freshman designated player Kalei Cacho-Kekahuna (.411, three homers, 32 RBI). Coach Sheryl Gilmore was named the North Region Coach of the Year.
Everett also made its presence felt at the NWAC tournament, the Trojans (30-18), who finished third in the North Region and were seeded 10th in the tournament, won their first two games before suffering consecutive losses to finish 2-2.
Everett also had a member of the All-American team in freshman shortstop Megan Dedrick (.494, 11 homers, 48 RBI), who was also named the North Region’s Most Valuable Player. Two other Trojans were named first-team North Region, those being sophomore catcher Whitney Harris (.308, two homers, 31 RBI) and sophomore utility player Sydney Taggart (21-10, 3.08 ERA as a pitcher, .377, 11 homers, 39 RBI as a batter).
