The success of the Marysville-Pilchuck softball team’s undefeated Wesco North season can be attributed to a lot more than the events of the past two months.
The majority of the girls began playing together at the age of seven, giving them close to a decade to bond as a team. Co-captain Megan Rollings believes that closeness gave them the edge in the Wesco North and, hopefully, will do the dame in the postseason.
M-P begins play in the 4A District 1 tournament against Snohomish at 3 p.m. today at Sky River Park in Monroe. The top three teams in the district tournament advance to the May 28-29 state tournament at SERA Fields in Tacoma.
“I definitely think it was our team chemistry,” said Rollings. “We’ve been together for nine years and we know each other in and out. It’s kind of like a family.”
This season the Tomahawks clinched their first Wesco North championship since 2001 and hope to return to the 4A state tournament, where they won a game in 2008 but failed to place.
As the only senior on the squad, co-captain Jen Rosie has high hopes for her last high school season. A four-year varsity member, she went to state as a sophomore and would love to return.
“If we were able to go to state again, that would be the icing on the cake for my senior year,” Rosie said. “Now that we have this tight group of girls, we realize that this is the year that we can make this happen.”
Juniors Morgan Martinis, Riley Fritz, Sacha Clow and Katie Buck round out the six girls, including Rollings and Rosie, who have played together since elementary school.
Although a relative newcomer to the core group of girls, sophomore Jessica Christensen has stepped up in a big way this year. With the Tomahawks catcher graduating last year, Christensen took on the role despite never playing the position before.
After a tough season last year when Marysville-Pilchuck dealt with seven of its nine main players being injured at some point and finished fifth in the Wesco North, the team stayed healthy this year and dominated the league.
But the players know that the path to state may not be so easy.
“We’re not going to be playing against the same teams that we played in league,” said Marysville-Pilchuck coach KT Allyn. “Their name may be the same but they’re a different group and some of them may have gelled in a way that’s going to make them stronger.”
“We need to put our best foot forward in order to succeed at the district tournament,” she continued.
Luckily, the Tomahawks have a well-rounded group of girls to aid them in districts with seven players batting over .350.
“The beauty of this team is that everybody has shined at some point this season,” said Allyn. “We have a team award, we call it the Queen of the Diamond, and everybody on our team has got it at least once.”
The girls also understand the importance of doing what’s best for the team instead of just the individual.
“It’s more than our leadoff batter getting on base,” said Allyn. “It’s our second batter sacrificing a bunt and she can run into the dugout knowing that she’s now moved that runner into scoring position.”
“I’m really excited for the post-season to see what we can do,” said Rollings. “I know that we have a lot that we can do, but I’m excited to prove it to everybody.”
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
