EVERETT — Through two innings at Phil Johnson Ballfields on Thursday, the District 1 3A softball consolation game between Snohomish and Edmonds-Woodway looked like it would grind down to the wire.
Then Snohomish pitcher Abby Edwards came to bat with runners on first and third. The junior struggled to time her swing at first, but kept fouling off anything close to the strike zone until she saw a pitch she liked.
Once she did, she made no mistake with it. With a blast over a tree behind the center field fence, Edwards put the Panthers ahead 4-1.
“Once that one pitch came in, I was just perfectly on time,” Edwards said. “And I think everything just went together, so that was really fun.”
The fun kept going for the No. 8 seed Panthers (17-6), who built off that moon shot and surged to a 12-2 victory over the No. 2 seed Warriors (16-7) in five innings, clinching a state tournament berth while sending Edmonds-Woodway to a last-chance consolation matchup against Mount Vernon.
Edwards went 2-for-3 with a home run and four RBI. In five innings in the circle, she allowed four hits and four walks while striking out six. Five other Panthers had multi-hit days, while a total of seven Snohomish batters drove in at least one run.
The Panthers entered the tournament as the eighth seed, but were likely weighed down by a slow start. After dropping their first three conference games, Snohomish won five straight to close out the regular season. Overall, they have won 10 of their past 11 games heading into the state tournament.
Snohomish’s Madalynn Larsen high-fives Abby Edwards as she walks up to bat during the 3A District 1 consolation game against Edmonds-Woodway on Thursday, May 15, 2025 in Snohomish, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
“Their attitude and stuff has just been awesome,” Snohomish coach Patti Lande said. “They’ve really been ‘can-do’ and they’re having fun, and I guess that’s kind of what it’s been. We have the confidence that we lacked at the beginning of the year, and we’ve just been rolling game on game.”
For Edmonds-Woodway, who later defeated Mount Vernon 7-0 to secure a state spot, starting pitcher Ella Campbell (2.0 IP, 7 H, 6 ER, 1 BB, 1 K) was replaced after allowing five straight batters to reach base to open the third inning, which included Edwards’ home run. Outfielder Catie Ingalls led the offense by going 2-for-3 with an RBI and a run scored.
Edmonds-Woodway opened the scoring in the bottom of the first with an RBI groundout by third baseman Neva Cheeney (1-for-2, 1 RBI), but Snohomish tied it in the top of the second when third baseman Madalynn Larsen (2-for-4, 1 R, 1 RBI) smacked a pitch down the third base line to score designated player Taylor Ward (2-for-4, 1 R, 2 RBI).
Snohomish put a couple of runs across in the third after Edwards’ three-run shot, then two more in the fourth to go up 8-1. Edmonds-Woodway put runners on first and third in the bottom of the frame. Outfielder Abby Tracy attempted to advance the runners with a bunt, but Larsen ran up and dove for a highlight reel-worthy catch.
“I just knew that if I ran as fast as I could, I would be able to get there, whether it was on the ground or in the air,” Larsen said. “If it was foul and I didn’t catch the ball, oh well, it was foul. But if I did, yay for me.”
Edmonds-Woodway’s Abby McCorvey bobbles the ball as Snohomish’s Amelie Lopez slides into her as tries to get to home plate during the 3A District 1 consolation game on Thursday, May 15, 2025 in Snohomish, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
The Warriors still managed to get a run across with an RBI from Ingalls in the next at-bat, but Larsen led off the top of the fifth with a double. That sparked a pair of back-to-back RBI doubles from shortstop Amelie Lopez (2-for-4, 2 R, 1 RBI) and Edwards to make it 10-2 before the game briefly paused for a rain delay.
Snohomish picked up right where it left off after the delay, scoring two more runs with RBI singles from outfielder Hannah Siegler (1-for-3, 2 R, 1 RBI) and Ward.
Protecting a 12-2 lead, Edwards shut down the Warriors in the bottom of the fifth to trigger the run rule, and emphatically punch Snohomish’s ticket to the state tournament for the 13th year in a row.
“That’s kind of expected for us,” Edwards said. “That’s kind of what we go into the season — like that’s our biggest goal, and so it’s just we had a little bit of a rough patch in the beginning, so that’s, like, really cool to work our way up to that point and just prove to ourselves that we could do it.”
Even with their state playoff pedigree, this year’s Panthers squad had to learn who they were. With only three seniors and two juniors, Lande believes this is the youngest team she’s ever coached. There were some growing pains, but the results have the Snohomish softball community excited for what’s next. In the upcoming state tournament, and beyond.
“Who wouldn’t want to be me right now?” Lande said. “This is great.”
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