EVERETT — Hitting home runs is nothing new for the Meadowdale softball team. The Mavericks began their Class 3A District 1 semifinal game against Marysville Pilchuck on Tuesday with 40 for the season, so hitting three more against the Tomahawks was just another day at the office.
But those three homers were the big blows in a 13-3 five-inning victory that sends Meadowdale to state for the fourth straight season, and that made them special indeed.
The Mavericks “wanted to get back to state again,” said coach Dennis Hopkins. And to go for a fourth straight season “out of Wesco, that’s amazing,” he added. “In any sport, it’s tough to get four trips to state in a row.”
Also headed to state is Everett, which hung on to win a couple of close games, beating Mountlake Terrace 9-7 after trailing 7-0 in the opener and then slipping past Ferndale 4-3 in the later semifinal game. The Seagulls will face Meadowdale in Thursday’s 6 p.m. district championship game, again at Everett’s Phil Johnson Fields.
Meadowdale tagged Marysville Pilchuck for five first-inning runs, and then broke the game open with four more runs in the second. The second-inning runs came on two-run home runs by Hailey Costello to left field and Haili Taylor to straightaway center.
“Our goal is to hit base hits, but sometimes (the ball) just keeps going,” said Taylor with a laugh. It was her seventh homer of the season.
The Mavericks “kind of like the long ball,” Hopkins said. “It’s what they do. They’re trying to hit somebody around and all of a sudden (the ball) is out of the park.”
Perhaps fittingly, the game ended when Julia Reuble launched Meadowdale’s third homer of the game to left field, a walk-off blow in the fifth because of the 10-run rule. It was Reuble’s ninth home run of the season.
“We came in with the mentality that we needed to jump on (the Tomahawks) at the start,” Taylor said. “That’s what we did and we never let up.”
Taylor is one of three Meadowdale seniors who are headed to state for the fourth time, including a third-place finish in 2013. “It’s surreal,” she said. “Every year is surreal … but it’s an accomplishment for all of us seniors.”
Reuble pitched five innings for the victory, scattering six hits and giving up just two earned runs. She struck out nine and walked two.
As the Mavericks were pounding out their win against Marysville Pilchuck, Everett was holding on for dear life against Ferndale on an adjacent field. The Seagulls jumped out to a 4-0 lead, but Ferndale rallied for three runs and had runners at first and second in the seventh before Everett finally got the last out.
For the Seagulls, this will be their first trip to state since 2012. Only two seniors on the roster have any experience at state.
“This team is still very young,” said second-year Everett coach Mike Millar. “We’re loaded with juniors, and I wanted to get them to state this year so they could get a taste of (good) competition and … really set our program up for the future.”
Though Everett and Meadowdale are both assured of advancing to state, Thursday’s district title game should be a tasty showdown of two evenly matched squads. The Seagulls are 21-1 and the Mavericks are 20-2, with Everett winning the only game between the teams this season, 6-5.
“I expect a good game, just like when we played them earlier this year,” Millar said. “It came down to the final at-bat, and we were fortunate enough to get them that game. I know they’ll be ready for us and we’ll be ready for them, so it’s going to be a heck of a battle.”
At Phil Johnson Fields
M. Pilchuck 011 01 — 3 7 6
Meadowdale 543 01 — 13 13 1
McKenzie Justice, Jordan Willard (2) and Lexi Phelps. Julia Reuble and Emma Helm. WP—Reuble. LP—Justice. 2B—McKenzie Justice (MP), Katie Barrett (MP). HR—Hailey Costello (M), Haili Taylor (M), Julie Reuble (M). Records—Marysville Pilchuck 12-10. Meadowdale 20-2.
At Phil Johnson Fields
Ferndale 000 030 0 — 3 9 1
Everett 013 000 0 — 4 9 0
Lauren Maley and Drew Westford. Sydney Taggart, Erin Gordon (5), and Rachel Christensen. WP—Taggart. LP—Maley. 2B—Dana Ebe (F), Abigail Bauthues (F). 3B—Megan Gordon (E). HR—Bailey Forman (E). Records—Ferndale 20-2. Everett 21-1.
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