LYNDEN – Behind shutouts pitched by sophomore Kayelynne Huggins in a first-round game and junior Kaitlyn Kennedy in the semifinals, Archbishop Murphy advanced to the championship game of the 2A District 1 softball tournament.
More importantly, with wins over Nooksack Valley (3-0) in the first round and Mount Baker (2-0) in the semifinals Thursday at Bender Fields, the Wildcats earned an automatic berth in the state tournament June 3-4.
Huggins pitched a complete-game shutout in the early game, striking out seven batters while baffling the Nooksack Valley Pioneers.
The Wildcats put up two runs in the first inning of the second game (against Mount Baker). The first run came when senior catcher Liz Kennedy, who was 2-for-4, scored on an illegal pitch call against Mount Baker. On the next pitch, Kaitlin Duffy scored on a fielder’s choice.
Those two runs held up as Kaitlyn Kennedy needed no more run support. Her gem in the second game included 12 strikeouts.
“This is a tough-hitting team,” Kaitlyn Kennedy said about Mount Baker. “They don’t give up.”
The Wildcats said they feel that they still have some work to do starting Saturday, when they face Meridian for the district championship.
“It looks good because we have two good pitchers,” said Liz Kennedy, motioning toward her teammates. “We really want to take district.”
Huggins added, “We’re hitting really well now, so we should go a ways.”
Wildcats coach Brad Johnson said he has a difficult decision to make concerning who will pitch Saturday. “I’m leaning toward Kayelynne because Kaitlyn got an eye fungus this week, but being the competitor she is, she’ll want to be in there.”
Meridian beat Sultan 10-0 in a mercy-rule-shortened six-inning game, and topped Blaine 4-1 in the semifinals.
Meridian used a big fourth inning, scoring four runs on four singles and two doubles, to dispatch the Turks. Danielle Reinke scored from second on Jennifer Jorgensen’s double to center field. Jorgensen (3-for-4) scored from second on Kristen Wegener’s single to right. After two fielder’s choice outs, Alicia Watson scored when Olivia Mitchell singled. The final tally came on a Karla Johnson double, which drove home Amanda Sires.
In consolation play, Granite Falls beat Sultan 13-1 in six innings. Ashley Butler and Kelly Mitchell were each 2-for-5. Ashley Millican was 2-for-4. The Tigers play a loser-out game against Nooksack Valley Saturday. The Pioneers beat Lakewood 9-4 in a loser-out consolation game.
At Lynden
Sultan000001-154
Granite Falls171004-13121
Gilman and Cramer. Millican and Todd. WP-Millican LP-Gillman. Records-Sultan 2-18 overall. Granite Falls 9-11.
Nooksack1223100-983
Lakewood1010002-295
Porter and S. Dillard. Behen and Bean. WP-Porter. LP-Behen. Records-Nooksack not reported. Lakewood 6-16.
Blaine0100000-121
Meridian000400x-4111
S. Lawson and A Lawson. Jorgensen and Reinke. WP-Jorgensen. LP-S. Lawson. Records-Not reported.
Mount Baker0000000-020
Archbishop 200000x-261
Zender and Welch. L. Kennedy and K. Kennedy. WP-L. Kennedy. LP-Zender. Records-Mount Baker not reported. Archbishop Murphy 18-4.
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