Tim Martinez: Two special seniors guide Seton Catholic softball to another state final game
May 27-Two years ago, when the Seton Catholic softball team reached the 1A state championship game for the first time in program history, the Cougars had a roster that was very young, but very good.
Last weekend in Richland, the Cougars returned to the 1A state title game with a roster that was even younger, but possibly even better.
"We never get old," head coach Carrie Kosderka-Farrell said. "I keep saying that every year. 'We're still young. We're still young.' And we only graduate two (seniors)."
But those two seniors - catcher Kingsley Williams and outfielder Grace Farrell - were the glue that kept a younger roster on track all season.
And that's why when the Cougars got to advance their team on the bracket at Columbia Playfields after each win, Williams got the honor after a quarterfinal win on Friday over Lynden Christian and Farrell did it after the semifinal win over Cedar Park Christian on Saturday morning.
Kosderka-Farrell has a special connection with both of her seniors.
Kosderka-Farrell, a former college coach, took over as head coach in 2023 in Seton's second season as a varsity softball program.
"I said to Kingsley earlier this year 'You know, I came because of you,' " Kosderka-Farrell said. "She's like 'Wait? What?' I said 'I didn't want to coach but I heard about you.' I knew she loved softball and she had been through so much, and I thought 'OK, we'll stick around one year for this kid.' "
Kosderka-Farrell has stuck around for three years now at Seton. Williams was a sophomore catcher on the 2024 team that lost to Royal in the state title game.
Williams was Seton's leadoff hitter this season and the Trico League defensive player of the year. She has committed to play college softball at Corcordia-Irvine.
"She's grown so much," Kosderka-Farrell said. "She's going to play for one of my dearest friends at Irvine. (Head coach Crystal Rosenthal) is so excited, and I'm like 'Dude, you have no idea what's coming.' I know she's going to go on and have a great college career."
The other senior, Grace Farrell, is the head coach's daughter.
Grace Farrell was more into theater than softball when she first joined the Seton team. She's been a mainstay in center field ever since.
"I would say this is her side hustle," Kosderka-Farrell said of her daughter. "She wants to become Secretary of State. When she said she wanted to play softball, I was like 'OK. Let's do this.' And I told her even today when I was hugging her, this is going to change so much for you for what comes next. And the kid who wasn't interested in playing softball would count the days, with everybody else, until softball would start again."
Grace Farrell joined the softball team in 2024 when the Cougars were struggling to fill out a complete roster.
The school put up a social media post asking if any eighth grader in the Battle Ground school district wanted to play varsity softball for Seton.
As a 1A program, Seton Catholic is allowed to play eighth graders. But as a private high school with no direct feeder school, any eighth grader who wanted to play for the Cougars had to come from the surrounding area.
And for Seton, that meant the boundary for Battle Ground Public Schools.
In 2024, two eighth graders joined the program - Jocelyn Kender and Kenzie Kuhnhausen - and both played pivotal roles in Seton's drive to a runner-up finish at state.
"We didn't really post anything the next year, and we had eighth graders show up," Kosderka-Farrell said. "And this year, we needed just one, and Maggie (Kender) was the one."
Maggie Kender pitched a complete game and struck out 14 batters in Seton's semifinal win over Cedar Park Christian on Saturday.
"It's kind of ironic how these young kids coming in," Kosderka-Farrell said. "But I think in my college days my sports information director said when kids find out you can win and be happy, it's easy. ... But almost every kid we've had come as an eighth grader, all but two of them have stayed at Seton and will graduate from Seton. It's pretty amazing."
Seton did walk away with one state championship trophy last weekend, as the program won the academic state title for Class 1A with a team GPA of 3.851.
On the field, the Cougars fell to Montesano 8-0 in the title game Saturday in Richland. But they got there with a lineup that included four sophomores, three freshmen and one eighth grader.
And it all started with the leadership of two special seniors.
"Both of them are definitely the mama hens that make sure the crazy in the young kids is under control," Kosderka-Farrell said. "It's going to be hard to replace the people. Yes, Kingsley's talent is unbelievable. But Kingsley as a person is going to be really hard to replace."
Unlock all stories. Stay informed.
Starting at just $1.99/week
Become a subscriber and get unlimited access to every story, plus our ePaper and app for seamless reading anywhere. Stay informed, support local journalism, and stay connected to your community.
Subscribe today
Copyright 2026 Tribune Content Agency. All Rights Reserved.