LAKE STEVENS — After five straight non-league victories, the Monroe softball team took the first step in its Wesco 4A schedule on Tuesday afternoon and it was a good one.
Behind the pitching of freshman standout McKenzie Schulz and an impressive offensive display, the visiting Bearcats remained perfect through six games with a 7-1 victory over Lake Stevens. Schulz, a talented left-hander, scattered five hits, striking out five, and Monroe combined 10 hits with four Vikings errors to score in five of seven innings.
“This was a good way to start league play,” said Bearcats coach Mike Birch. With 10 returning varsity players and five promising freshmen, “this could be one of the better teams we’ve had in about 10 years,” he added. “And I’m looking for good things.”
Schulz allowed just three base runners and one hit through five scoreless innings before losing some of her command over the final two innings. The Vikings scored once in the sixth and had the bases loaded in the seventh before Schulz retired the final two hitters, the last on a three-pitch strikeout.
“She had kind of an off night,” Birch said. “But she’s a remarkable young lady. She’s going to be a workhorse for us the bulk of the season. … I don’t know if she was necessarily tired (in the late innings). She’s a freshman, so she’s young. But mechanically, she’s got all the weapons.”
Backing Schulz was an offense that produced multiple base runners in all but two innings. First baseman Michaela Johnson led the way, going 3-for-3 with a walk, and getting one of her two RBI with a solo home run to left field in the second inning. Catcher Morgan Allen was 2-for-4 with two runs scored, and it took a terrific diving catch of a line drive by Lake Stevens second baseman Payton Beaver to deny Allen a third hit.
Monroe’s big inning was the fifth as the Bearcats put together three singles, a walk, an infield out and a wild pitch to scored three runs.
A year ago, the Bearcats had their season end at the district tournament, and that disappointment has the team hungry for a better finish this season, Allen said.
“This year we all know that we’ll go farther,” she said. “I think we’re capable of whatever we want. Whatever goal we set for ourselves we can totally meet if we push ourselves and work hard and play the way we know how to play.”
“The last three years we’ve been a team that’s peaked toward the end of the season, so I’m looking to repeat that again,” Birch said. “We want to keep progressing and getting better throughout the season. … I have very high hopes for this team.”
Lake Stevens, meanwhile, came up short offensively and defensively against Monroe, and it was the latter that was most frustrating to coach Sarah Hirsch.
“(Monroe’s) defense made plays and ours didn’t,” she said. “Even though some of theirs were hits (as opposed to errors), I feel like we should’ve made those defensive plays.”
Still, Hirsch believes she has a squad capable of being a Wesco contender. “I’m very optimistic,” she said. “I really think we’ve got a good team…and I think our kids will rise to the occasion.”
At Lake Stevens H.S.
Monroe 011 130 1 — 7 10 2
Lake Stevens 000 001 0 — 1 5 4
McKenzie Schulz and Morgan Allen; Sara Johnson, Megan Barry (6) and Tehya Harney. WP—Schulz. LP—Johnson. 2B—Morgan Allen (M), Kacey Hvitved (M), Payton Beaver (LS). HR—Michaela Johnson (M). Records—Monroe 1-0 league, 6-0 overall. Lake Stevens 0-1, 5-3.
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