TACOMA — After six innings of Mountlake Terrace’s 4A softball state quarterfinal game against Mountain View, Kori Seidlitz was staring a perfect game right in the face. She didn’t get it, but this time of the year perfect games and no-hitters don’t mean much. Winning does. The Hawks did that, advancing to the semifinals with a 3-1 victory Friday night.
The Hawks defeated Kentwood 1-0 in the first round despite being no-hit by Kayla Evans.
“I never distrust the softball gods. They can come up and bite you at any minute,” Mountlake Terrace coach Kim Stewart said.
Seidlitz had the only RBI of that game, earning a bases-loaded walk.
“I have been trying to get her to relax a lot up there,” Stewart said. “It paid off, obviously she helped herself.”
Seidlitz also struck out 13 batters and gave up just three hits and no walks.
In the quarterfinals, Terrace put up early runs and Seidlitz wouldn’t need many. Kayla Watson drove in Mindy James in the first inning. Seidlitz added a second first-inning run with a sacrifice fly.
Then she took the mound in the bottom half of the first inning, the first of six perfect innings.
“One I start getting into a routine, I just expect that I am going to throw strikes,” Seidlitz said.
Seidlitz lost the perfect game bid in the bottom of the seventh inning after James went down with a knee injury in the bottom of the sixth inning. It took several minutes to get James off the field, delaying the start of the bottom of the seventh inning. All of the Terrace players were concerned about James and visibly shaken. After the game Stewart said James in out for the remainder of state.
“I think Mindy’s injury had an impact on me,” Seidlitz said. “That maybe distracts you a little bit.
Jessica Guy led off the bottom of the seventh with a single she was batted in by Paige Martin, who hit a triple, but that was all the Mighty Thunder could get off Seidlitz.
“I let them get a few hits there, oh well, we got the win and that’s all that’s important at state,” Seidlitz said.
The Hawks play Redmond at 9 a.m. today in the semifinals.
“We have been dreaming about this for so long,” Stewart said. “It will last forever, people are never going to forget this.”
Stanwood impressed in its first game against Rogers of Puyallup scoring three runs in the top of the eighth inning to take a 4-1 victory. Brittany Jeans struck out 14 in the win.
However,Stanwood’s championship hopes were put to rest by Kelso in the quarterfinals. Kelso won 3-0.
“They just put together more hits. They strung them together better,” said Stanwood coach Cherlyn Schander.
Stanwood beat Thomas Jefferson late Friday to remain alive in consolation play.
Another team looking to make an impressive state showing was Cascade. The Bruins were making their first-ever state appearance in fastpitch. In the opening round the Bruins faced Walla Walla. For six and a half innings the game was a scoreless pitchers duel. In the bottom of the seventh inning, Alicia Baker ended the Bruins state championship hopes with one swing of the bat. Baker hit a walk off two-run home run to give Walla Walla a 2-0 victory.
“I’m just proud of the girls that they came down here and played them like any other team,” Cascade coach Wendy Close said.
The Bruins still had one more chance to earn their first ever state victory, but that was not to be this year either. The Bruins lost their second game to Lake Washington 12-0 in five innings.
Close called that game the worst game the Bruins had played all year, but with only two senior graduating said, “We’ll be back.”
The Lynnwood girls’ team was also making their first ever state fastpitch appearance according to coach Matt Rockne.
The Royals dropped their first game to Union 2-0. The Royals however turned it around in the second game to earn their first-ever state victory and knock out two-time defending state champion Kennedy on the strength of Julia Nealer’s one-hitter.
Lynnwood was then eliminated by Prairie. Prairie’s Chantal Paradis doubled in the bottom of the seventh and later scored on a Kelsey Parker passed ball. Paradis’ double was the only Prairie hit of the game.
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