EVERETT — The Snohomish High School softball team found itself in an unusual position: trailing by three runs after the top of the fifth inning against fifth-seeded Monroe in the Class 3A District 1 semifinals. But the top-seeded Panthers rallied back in the final two innings.
Senior Camryn Sage hit a fly ball to right field, bringing home senior Avery Clark for the walk-off 5-4 victory over the Bearcats at Phil Johnson Ballfields, slotting the defending district-champion Panthers into their third straight district title game.
Snohomish trailed 4-1 In the bottom of the sixth when senior Rian Doyle singled a ground ball to right field, scoring junior Hannah Siegler and senior Alexandra Flohr to narrow the gap 4-3. Clark had a full count when she doubled on a fly ball to center field in the bottom of the seventh for junior Emery Post to tie it 4-4 prior to the final sequence.
“We were hoping to hit more straight out the gate and really just play our game. But unfortunately, we had a couple bad base-running moves, errors, and we were not hitting the way that we should have been,” Snohomish coach Patti Lande said. “Our seniors and our better hitters, who were not hitting at the beginning, everybody just came in and really came through for us. I also just want to give a huge shout-out to Abby Edwards. She pitched two straight games back-to-back and just did a phenomenal job.”
Edwards, a sophomore, struck out 13 in seven innings in the Panthers’ 7-1 quarterfinal victory against eighth-seeded Marysville Getchell and needed to produce a similar count against the Bearcats, which she did with her seven-inning, 10-strikeout performance.
“I was just staying out of my head and knowing that we could come back on offense,” said Edwards about her mindset when the Panthers trailed 4-1. “It was tough, and it was a lot of pitching today. But I just knew that our offense could come back, so that’s what I was riding on.”
With the victory Snohomish (18-5) earned a return trip to the state tournament, where the Panthers finished as runners-up last year. Snohomish faces third-seeded Everett for the district title at 6 p.m. Thursday at Phil Johnson Ballfields.
Monroe (15-8) dropped into the loser’s bracket, but still has two chances to qualify for state Thursday.
Monroe, which topped fourth-seeded Meadowdale 6-3 in the quarterfinals, was on the board first with a solo home run by junior Hadley Oylear in the top of the third and solo homer by freshman Izzy Webster in the top of the fourth for a 2-0 lead.
Snohomish scored one run in the bottom of the fourth from a hit by Doyle to bring home Flohr.
Bearcats sophomore Vivian Knuckey’s homer to right field in the top of the fifth drove in junior Scarlett Nagy for a 4-1 advantage, which was Monroe’s last lead of the game. Freshman Holly Pettitt also held her own in the circle pitching 6 1/3 innings, striking out two batters.
“I don’t know if our energy was down or what, but we’ve got to be ready to go,” said Lande about preparing for the district championship game. “Anything can happen in districts, and we’ve seen it year after year. … So we need to make sure that we do all the routine things and just come with energy and confidence.”
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