EVERETT — Sedro-Woolley softball, the top seed in the District 1 3A tournament, started to show its offensive potential in the third inning of the championship against Stanwood at Phil Johnson Ballfields on Thursday.
After the Cubs loaded the bases against Stanwood pitcher Addi Anderson, shortstop Reagan Evans hit a sacrifice fly to center field to score first baseman Lola Wylie from third and take a 1-0 lead.
Anderson would tie things up for Stanwood with an RBI single in the fourth, but Sedro-Woolley would put a runner on third base again in five of the next seven innings, including all three extra frames. Despite all those threats to score, including two opportunities to blow the game open with the bases loaded and four chances to win via walk-off, the Cubs failed to bring another run home.
Anderson simply would not be denied.
“I needed to really lock in and do this for my team,” Anderson said. “Because winning districts has been our goal since Day 1. … I was just like, ‘Okay, I really need to lock in, but if they hit it, then my team has my back, so they can get it too.’”
Thanks to Anderson’s masterful escape artistry in the circle, and a 10th-inning RBI groundout from second baseman Taylor Almanza, the No. 3 Spartans (20-3) won 2-1 against the Cubs (21-3) to secure their first district championship in fastpitch softball. The school previously won a district championship in slowpitch during the 1990s.
Stanwood players cheer as pitcher Addi Anderson lifts the 3A District 1 Championship trophy in the air after beating Sedro-Woolley for the title on Thursday, May 15, 2025 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
If win probability were tracked in this game like it is in professional sports, the line would probably resemble that of a cardiac arrest patient’s chart. If you checked the smart watch heart monitors of the fans in the crowd, it might reveal the same. As for Stanwood coach Patrick Ryan, he felt the opposite.
“I was definitely relaxed,” Ryan said. “We’ve done a lot of work, we’ve been in a lot of tough games against some really good teams, and I knew this was going to be another one of those, and just our preparation would put us in a position to win.”
Maybe easier said after pulling off the win, which was far from guaranteed facing Sedro-Woolley pitcher Kasandra Gonzalez. She was near-perfect, striking out 18 batters — yes, 18 — and allowing just three hits, one walk and one earned run.
But it was Anderson (10.0 IP, 5 H, 1 ER, 6 BB, 8 K) who did just enough to get the win.
Gonzalez carried a no-hitter into the fourth inning, until Spartans first baseman Reagan Ryan (1-for-4, 1 R) ripped a double into center field. Ryan yelled out, “Let’s go!” after sliding in safely, juiced up by some smack talk she heard after her previous at-bat in the first inning.
Stanwood’s Reagan Ryan reacts to being called safe after sliding into second base during the 3A District 1 championship game against Sedro-Woolley on Thursday, May 15, 2025 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
With shortstop Rubi Lopez (1-for-3) signaling pitches for Ryan from second base after a leadoff walk and stolen base, Gonzalez told her she wouldn’t need to; she planned to strike Ryan out. Ryan wound up grounding out, but Lopez still relayed Gonzalez’s message to her in the dugout after the inning.
“That really strung a heartstring,” Ryan said. “And I was like, ‘Next time I’m up, I’m gonna do something.’”
She did, and after reaching third on a passed ball, Anderson (1-for-4, 1 R, 1 RBI) worked a full count before driving her home with a single up the middle to tie it 1-1. Ryan said there had been a lot of talking between the two sides this season, and the intensity in Thursday’s game backed that up.
In the circle, Anderson seemed to take every at-bat personally, staring at the Sedro-Woolley dugout with every inning-ending punch out. Even during a circle visit with the bases loaded in the fifth inning, Anderson mockingly clapped along to a chant in the Cubs’ dugout. She proceeded to force a pop-up to end the inning.
Stanwood’s Addi Anderson reacts to getting a strike out during the 3A District 1 championship game against Sedro-Woolley on Thursday, May 15, 2025 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
“The way I always think about it is if they’re going to try to get in my head, then I’m just going to stay where I’m at,” Anderson said. “I’m gonna be where my shoes are and be in my place because they’re obviously trying to get me out of my head, and they can’t do that. They can’t touch me.”
After the innings down the stretch cycled between near-scores and dominance from the pitchers, Almanza finally broke through for Stanwood in the 10th. With Anderson starting at second as the automatic runner, she reached third base on a passed ball. Almanza grounded out to first base, but allowed Anderson to run home to take a 2-1 lead.
“I just knew I had to stay simple,” Almanza said. “I was thinking my whole at-bat to hit it to the right side, obviously, because there’s a runner on third. But just stay simple, just put it in play and see what happens.”
Still needing to get out of the bottom of the inning, Stanwood allowed a Sedro-Woolley base-runner to reach third for the sixth time in 10 innings when Anderson threw a wild pitch in the first at-bat.
Cubs freshman McKenna Edwards laid down a bunt to try and tie the game, but Ryan corralled the putout at first and sent it back to catcher Jordan Rancourt (0-for-4), who applied the tag to prevent the run with one out left. At that moment, Anderson knew Stanwood locked it up. She forced the next batter to fly out to left field.
Gloves went airborne as the Spartans dugout streamed onto the field, running to mob left fielder Olivia Dahl, who was already in tears by the time her teammates reached her.
Stanwood’s Olivia Dahl is hugged by her teammates after making a catch in the outfield for the final out to beat Sedro-Woolley in the 3A District 1 Championship on Thursday, May 15, 2025 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
The Spartans were heading to the state tournament, win or lose, but with the victory, they stamped themselves into unique territory in Stanwood softball history.
“The kids have bought in throughout the years,” said coach Ryan, Reagan’s father. “I’m pretty hard on them with fundamentals, and they continue to work on them day in and out. But really it’s about them. They’re all in.
“We say it every day, we’re all in.”
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