Warriors fall one game short of state

Published 10:49 am Friday, February 29, 2008

The bar has been raised for the Edmonds-Woodway softball team.

A season in which the Warriors had modest expectations turned into a season first-year coach Chris Paulson and his players will recall with much fondness.

Edmonds-Woodway came within one victory of advancing to the state tournament. Marysville-Pilchuck ended the Warriors’ postseason run with a 9-5 victory in a loser-out Northwest District 4A tournament game Monday at Skyriver Park in Monroe.

The Warriors edged Western Conference 4A South Division rival Mountlake Terrace 1-0 in another loser-out game earlier in the day. Marysville-Pilchuck ended up claiming the district’s second and final berth to state by defeating Everett 3-1. Kamiak upended Everett 2-0 in the championship game.

Marysville-Pilchuck scored three runs in the top of the third to take a 3-0 lead before Edmonds-Woodway stormed back with three runs in the third. The Tomahawks then pushed across four runs in the sixth. The Warriors again responded with a pair of runs in the bottom half of the inning.

“After they scored in their sixth, the kids battled back,” Paulson said. “We just ran out of gas.”

Marysville-Pilchuck added two more runs in the seventh.

Paulson was pleasantly surprised by the success of his team, which placed fourth in the Wesco South standings and finished the season 15-9 overall.

“We did more than what I first expected us to do,” Paulson said. “The girls came together real fast, much sooner than I expected. We’ve built a foundation and raised expectations for next year.”

Edmonds-Woodway defeated every Wesco South team — including Kamiak, Everett and Shorecrest — at least once during the regular season.

“Winning big games … just boosted their confidence,” Paulson said. “They felt they could beat anybody in the league.”

Paulson’s main focus coming in was on improving Edmonds-Woodway’s offense and the results were evident in the first two games of the district tournament.

Edmonds-Woodway opened with 6-0 victory over Mount Vernon and then defeated Stanwood 8-1.

“The kids have got a lot of confidence with their hitting,” Paulson said. “They were getting the bat on the ball and were making contact.”

The Warriors pounded out 11 hits against the Spartans.

“We just all hit the ball really well,” Paulson said. “It was a good experience for the girls. We emphasized the mental game going into districts.”

Edmonds-Woodway returns both of its pitchers — sophomores Emily Dean and Annika Lindberg — and a total of nine letter-winners.

“I think (next year’s) team has the opportunity to go farther than what we did this year,” Paulson said. “I know this is a very tough league. I know we’ll be starting over next year.

“It could go in the opposite direction. The challenge is to get back to where we finished this year. We’re losing some key seniors. It’s going to be real tough.”

Both seniors — Andi Zolton and Brynn Noack — will be continuing their softball careers in college.

Mountlake Terrace is in a similar position to Edmonds-Woodway in that the Hawks are only losing two seniors.

Both players — Jacque Huden and Brianna Knight — also will be playing college ball.

The Hawks (15-8) opened districts with a 2-0 victory over Lake Stevens but then dropped a 3-1 decision to Everett. Edmonds-Woodway then sent Mountlake Terrace home with a 1-0 victory.

“We were having trouble hitting the last two games,” Mountlake Terrace coach Kim Stewart said. “We were getting runners in scoring position but couldn’t get a key hit. That was the problem.

“It’s been the story of our season. We’ve done that about every game.”

Junior Lindsey Woodhouse pitched all three games at districts and all but one game the entire season. She came into the playoffs with an ERA of 0.83.

“She had a great year. She had a great tournament,” Stewart said. “She gave us the opportunity to win every single game … we knew she was going to be a good pitcher. We didn’t know she was going to be as good as she ended up being.”

Stewart is excited at the prospect of having most of his players back but will miss Huden and Knight.

The two senior standouts helped Mountlake Terrace weather a five-game losing streak late in the season that nearly prevented the Hawks from making the playoffs for a ninth straight season.

“I would probably say that this is one of the most rewarding seasons we’ve had,” Stewart said. “Not too many teams would go through a five-game losing streak and not fold … it says a lot about the heart and character of the girls.”