Mt. Spokane fastpitch wins program's first state title with 7-5 win over Sedro-Woolley: 'Did what we had to do'

May 23-LACEY, Wash. - The Mt. Spokane fastpitch softball team has been tantalizingly, agonizingly close to a state championship the past few seasons, entering those tournaments as high seeds only to see their hopes dashed in the quarterfinals in 2023 and '24, then be unceremoniously bounced in the first-round last season - only to come back through the loser bracket to place fourth.

But on Saturday, with a senior-packed roster - and against what was perceived as a prohibitive favorite - the Wildcats finally broke through.

Emme Bond hit a tiebreaking two-run home run in the top of the sixth inning, Addison Jay didn't give up a hit over the last four innings and second-seeded Mt. Spokane edged top-seeded Sedro-Woolley 7-5 in the State 3A fastpitch championship game at Regional Athletic Complex in Lacey.

"There's no words to put into how hard we've just worked for this," senior catcher Quincy Schuerman said. "It stemmed from our freshman year, when we got fourth, and the year after that, when we didn't even make it to Saturday, and last year losing the first game and getting fourth.

"It was heartbreaking, and I think that heartbreak showed on the field (today). We weren't going to give up because we didn't want to experience that again."

The Wildcats have won the past three slowpitch softball titles, but this is the first fastpitch championship in the program's history. In fact, the last time a Greater Spokane League team won a state fastpitch softball title was in 2007, when Shadle Park - then in 4A - shut out Mountain View 2-0 to join University as the only GSL teams with fastpitch titles.

"It feels really good to represent our league the way we did. And you know, it's just ... it's incredible," Mt. Spokane coach Carl Adams said. "We did what we had to do, and we got better throughout the course of the game."

"The last couple years, we've come to this tournament as a high seed, and I think we didn't perform as we wanted to," Jay said. "I love coming over here and competing with these teams, because I think they underestimate us a lot."

The reason Sedro-Wooley was so heavily favored - besides beating Mt. Spokane 6-4 in the third-place game last season - was pitcher Kassandra Gonzalez. The senior, who is headed to Cal State-Fullerton next season, had not allowed a single base hit through the first three games of the state tournament, striking out 32 with just five walks over 14 innings.

Sedro-Woolley won their first three games in the tournament by a combined score of 58-0.

"We know (Gonzalez) is really good. She was good last year, and she's really good again this year," Adams said. "We just had to put the ball in play, make something good happen, and we found a way to do that. You know, aggressive on the bases in the right spots, and Emme comes up in a big moment there with the home run. But, yeah, we just grind, and that's what they did."

Mt. Spokane third base Avery Fox got the first hit off Gonzalez, a two-run single as part of a three-run third inning. Then leadoff hitter Makenzie Morris clubbed a two-run double in the fourth to tie the game.

It stayed 5-5 until the sixth inning. With one down, Morris singled and stole second base. That brought up Bond, who by her own description did not have her best at the plate over the four-game tournament.

But it only takes one swing to make a difference, and on a 1-2 count - and after four consecutive foul balls - Bond got one that she could handle and drove it on a line drive to center for a go-ahead two-run homer.

"Goldfish memory, and all that stuff," she said. "I don't know how to explain it. I was at bat, and I was just telling myself, 'This is for my team. This is not for me.' Every pitch she threw me, I was swinging, no matter what. I was being aggressive, like I wanted it. Like I was waiting for mine."

"(Bond) was just missing, just missing, just missing," Adams said. "She makes a little adjustment, and just squares it up, and that's power on power, and the ball just jumped."

The rest was up to Jay. She sat down the top of the Cubs batting order in order in the sixth. She struck out Gonzalez on a full count to lead off the seventh, then Peyton Brownfield walked after a nine-pitch at-bat.

But Jay buckled down to strike out McKenna Lewellen, then Veanna Lanphere - who had homered earlier in the game - popped out to Bond at shortstop, and the Wildcats bench erupted onto the field to celebrate with their teammates.

Jay retired 13 of the last 15 batters she faced, allowing just a pair of walks over that time frame. She struck out 10 in the game.

"It's game four (of the weekend). I'm tired. We're all tired," Jay said. "This tournament is a grind, and it's really hard to do. I think we've been through it the last three years, and ... that really helped keep the focus on us, and not the next game, or the next game, or the next game."

"(Jay) was struggling, and I just talked to her, and I said, 'Look, you're the best one out there, even if it can't be your 100%,' " Schuerman said. "And I believed in her, and I said, 'Our team will score runs, we will do this.' And she did just that."

Gonzalez gave up seven runs (four earned) on six hits and four walks with eight strikeouts. She also hit a solo home run. Lanphere hit a three-run home run in the third inning.

"It's just so fulfilling, so worth it to be able to represent our league and represent where we come from," Schuerman said. "We worked so hard for this one, and it's Mr. A's first ever, and we just wanted to do it for him."

In the semifinal game earlier in the day, Jay tossed a no-hitter through five innings as the Wildcats built a 9-1 lead and held off No. 6 Stanwood (21-5) 9-4.

Jay hit a solo home run to lead off the third inning, sparking a three-run rally. Mt. Spokane added two more in the fourth on a double by Kaydin Bradeen and rallied for three more in the fifth.

Stanwood outfielder Addi Anderson got to Jay in the sixth with a two-run home run, but she came back to record a 1-2-3 seventh, earning her 10th strikeout to end the game.

Adams said his 10 seniors on the roster "meant everything."

"From the first day when we started with this group, you know, this has been the goal - to get here and try to find a way to win it," Adams said. "And that's been upfront and out there, and now they've done it. They've accomplished that goal."

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