MONROE – Monroe softball led 3-0 in the bottom of the seventh against Glacier Peak on Thursday, but after the Bearcats misplayed a bunt that left runners on second and third, the Grizzlies had life with the tying run at the plate and no outs.
Getting out of that type of jam is a lot to ask of any pitcher at the back-end of a complete game, let alone a freshman making her first high school start, but that was exactly the case for Addelyn Bryant.
Bryant could have folded under pressure, but she strapped in to strike out the next batter. With Glacier Peak’s leadoff hitter Alexis Garcia up next, Bryant kept steady. Garcia hit into a double-play up the middle, sealing the 3-0 win for the Bearcats (1-0). For Bryant, the key to seizing the moment was simple.
“It was actually, ‘just throw the ball,’” Bryant said, relaying her thoughts in the moment. “When I think too much, things don’t go as planned. So I just focused on what I was doing and did it well.”
Bryant pitched seven shutout innings with three strikeouts and two walks, and she went 2-for-3 at the plate batting fifth in the order. Not a bad high school debut. She was not the only freshman to make an impact, as outfielder Sophia Jeske batted in two runs on a 2-for-3 day, while also sparking a relay to tag out a Grizzlies runner at home to preserve Bryant’s shutout in the first inning.
For the Grizzlies (0-1), Emma Hirshorn pitched a complete game, striking out five, while Garcia went 2-for-4 from the plate.
In Monroe head coach Melanie ‘Hooch’ Tuiolenuu’s first game at the helm, it was a great first step for the Bearcats all around.
“I am pumped for our freshmen,” Tuiolenuu said. “We give so much responsibility for every player, even the players on the bench. They have their roles, they know what it means for the team. They’re so good at picking each other up.”
Tuiolenuu takes over the program from former college teammate Ashley Tuiasosopo, who remains Monroe’s athletic director. A catcher/infielder at the University of Washington from 2010-2014, Tuiolenuu is coaching softball again for the first time in five years.
After three seasons coaching 16U teams with USA Softball, Tuiolenuu stopped around the COVID pandemic to focus on being a mother for her two children. With the kids now a little older – six (nearly seven) and five – Tuiolenuu felt comfortable coming back because she missed the sport.
Despite having a “laundry list” of things to work on after the first game, she had plenty to like, with fielding being the biggest thing.
“We have had seven or eight practices, and we have been working on taking care of the ball, hitting each other in the chest, working on good frames,” Tuiolenuu said. “So defense has been something of a priority, and I’m glad it showed up today.”
The biggest defensive play came in the bottom of the first, when Grizzlies third baseman Lauren Hufford hit a double to center field. Glacier Peak’s third base coach sent the runner, Garcia, home, but Jeske relayed it to shortstop Hadley Oylear, who gunned it to catcher Scarlett Nagy to make the tag at home.
After helping prevent a run, Jeske put the Bearcats on the board in the top of the second, blooping a single to shallow right field to drive in first baseman Vivian Knuckey for the 1-0 lead.
“Honestly, I was really afraid about the pitchers and seeing faster, upper-class pitchers,” Jeske said. “Today, it felt like I was able to see the ball pretty well and drive the ball. It felt good.”
Nagy, the catcher who made the tag in the first inning, also made an impact offensively with a solo home run to left-center at the top of the third to make it 2-0. The senior connected on the first pitch of the at-bat.
“I went up there ready to go on the first pitch because (Hirshorn’s) been throwing first-pitch strikes, and (I was) just going to turn on it,” Nagy said. “That’s all. I’m not thinking too much, you know?”
Jeske hit her second RBI of the day in the fourth inning, legging out a double to right field and driving in Bryant for a 3-0 lead.
The three-run lead lasted until the final inning where, despite a slight hiccup to start things off, the Bearcats dialed in after Tuiolenuu addressed her team during a timeout.
“I walked out there, and I told them, ‘You know what, we have a three-run lead,’” Tuiolenuu said. “‘The people on base don’t mean anything. Let’s go get some outs,’ and we ended up stranding them. … Couldn’t have asked for a better ending on game number one.”
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