Stanwood softball shocked in 3A state quarterfinal

LACEY — The vision was clear for Stanwood softball.

After defeating Roosevelt 3-0 in the Round of 16 earlier on Friday afternoon at Regional Athletic Complex, the Spartans turned their attention to the quarterfinals, where they would face Garfield. Last season, Garfield defeated them by one run to knock them out of the bracket. This time, as the top seed, Stanwood felt primed to flip the script. They closed out their postgame huddle shouting “state champions!” in unison.

When Rubi Lopez hit a two-run home run in the fifth to go ahead 4-2, their excitement grew. Just two more innings. They could taste the state semifinals.

Then their vision got blurry.

“I think it was our body language and self-talk, and how we presented ourselves,” senior Reagan Ryan said. “We kind of went in there, I think we kind of laid off a little bit. … We were up, and I think we just let off a little bit and I think they caught us, like, not really paying attention to the game. And I think that’s where it went wrong.”

In the top of the sixth, the No. 8 seed Bulldogs (24-6) blitzed the No. 1 Spartans (21-4) with a flurry of base hits and capitalized on a couple of errors to score three runs en route to a 5-4 win. Garfield pitcher Samantha Breckenridge went 1-2-3 in both the sixth and seventh innings, striking out five of six batters to finish the day with 14 Ks and no walks.

Packing their bags and leaving the dugout, some players were in tears. Some were in shock. Some just plain angry. Coach Patrick Ryan focused on the bigger picture, reminding the girls how lucky they were to be playing this late in the season. Lucky to be healthy and having fun together.

“Can’t be disappointed in any of it,” Patrick Ryan said. “We’re among the last 20 teams getting to play softball, probably the last 12 now, and you just got to be thankful. I mean, not many kids get to do this. And this is why we show up when it’s freezing in March and work hard. This is why you do it, so you can make it to this tournament and get to play with your community, friends, and all that.”

Still, with expectations set high, it was impossible for the players to avoid feeling the sting.

“I was pretty upset, only because the whole season I’ve been working to get a state championship,” the younger Ryan said. “All four years, we’ve been working towards it, and I think it’s just hard to lose and realize that you can’t get that.”

Reagan Ryan (2-for-3, 1 R, 2 RBI) was the one who started things off, belting a two-run home run in the bottom of the first inning after Lopez (1-for-3, 1 R, 2 RBI) led off the inning by reaching first on an error. Garfield cut the deficit in the top of the third with an RBI triple from Joie Cunningham. Stanwood pitcher Addi Anderson (7.0 IP, 8 H, 5 R, 4 BB, 11 K) finally showed some mortality after looking untouchable against Roosevelt.

Breckenridge retired the next eight batters after Ryan’s home run, but allowed a single once the first baseman came back up to bat in the bottom of the fourth. Ryan stole second, then third, but the other Stanwood bats couldn’t get her home.

In the next frame, Garfield tied it after Jordana King tripled to center field, and the throw home off Kaitlyn Washington’s grounder up the middle did not make it in time. The Bulldogs eventually put runners on second and third, but Anderson got out of the inning with two strikeouts. In between the changeover, Patrick Ryan urged his team to “get in the fight.”

Jemma Lopez (1-for-3, 1 R) got on base with a leadoff bunt, eventually reaching third, and Rubi broke the deadlock by crushing the first pitch she saw to right field. In her previous at bat, she got jammed inside on the first pitch she saw before grounding out to second. She didn’t want to let another inside pitch go by.

“I won’t be late. I’m gonna be on time,” Rubi said. “And at the first pitch I saw, I was ready to jump on it.”

It was a big swing for the Spartans, but they got too comfortable, too early. After leading off the inning with a walk, Garfield’s Ella Howard scored following a Stanwood fielding error in the outfield on a Sula Yogi-Adams single to cut it to 4-3. King tied the game with an RBI double down the third base line a few batters later.

Then another mistake, as King managed to score on Washington’s infield single, where the throw went to first long after Washington was safe. A throw home had a good chance of beating King, but instead, Stanwood was suddenly down 5-4.

“Some balls bounce their way, and that’s why we play the game,” Patrick Ryan said. “Our girls just have to know that’s why you just get back in it, and get back in it. Just didn’t go our way that time, and a lot of them have. We’ve had a lot of moments this year where the ball bounced to us where if we miss it, runs are getting scored.”

Stanwood maintained the same energy and belief all the way through the final out, but after leaving the door cracked open, the Bulldogs rushed through and shut it behind them. Even as Breckenridge mowed them down — the game and season slipping away — Reagan Ryan continued to motivate the team between innings.

Stanwood was always within one swing of tying things up, but when the Spartans struck out to end the game, the vision finally went dark.

“You can believe it until the last out,” Reagan Ryan said. “We can win anything until we can’t win anymore. And I think we all tried, and sometimes the ball just doesn’t go our way. That’s what happens.”