EVERETT — A different softball player might not have been able to bounce back so quickly.
But not Sydney Taggart.
Immediately after giving up two runs in the top of the seventh inning in a 3A state semifinal game, Taggart came to the plate with Everett trailing 5-4 in its last chance to advance to the state championship. She calmly crushed a ball — that sailed foul — before returning to the batter’s box and slugging another ball over the fence, this time in center field to tie the game at five.
Taggart and the Seagulls would go on to beat Kamiakin in the game 6-5, and take second place in the 2015 3A state tournament. The junior went 16-1 on the mound this season with two saves, 133 strikeouts and a 1.71 earned-run average. Taggart was just as impressive on offense, leading the 25-2 Seagulls with a .505 average, along with a .945 slugging percentage, eight home runs, 35 RBI and 38 runs scored.
Her all-world stats, along with her leadership and determination, have made Taggart The Herald’s 2015 Softball Player of the Year.
“She’s obviously a dominant player as a pitcher and as an offensive threat. She sets the tone for us in the circle to start the game off,” said Everett head coach Mike Millar. “I think her best performances this year were in our biggest games against our toughest opponents and down the stretch in all our postseason games. She was at her best in the biggest moments.
“It makes my job much easier. I have all the confidence in the world in her and the defense behind her. It’s a great thing to be able to have a competitor like her. Every time we give her the ball I have confidence no matter who we’re playing.”
It was rare for Taggart and her Everett teammates to find themselves trailing this season, but when the Seagulls were behind they continued to fight. In Everett’s 3A District 1 playoff opener against Mountlake Terrace, the Hawks took a 7-0 lead in the top of the first inning. Everett countered with two runs in the first and a six-run fourth inning to top Mountlake Terrace 9-7.
“We’ve been behind in games before and we’re just a tough team. We always come back,” Taggart said. “We don’t let being down affect us playing. We take it and turn it around and make it motivation to play harder and get more runs back. If they score one, we’ll score three.”
Everett dropped its lone loss of the regular season on March 25 to Everett School District-rival Jackson, which went on to advance to the 4A state tournament. The Seagulls didn’t lose again until the state title game, which saw Juanita top Everett at the Regional Athletic Complex in Lacey.
The second-place finish at state ties the top mark in program history.
“It seems pretty crazy,” Taggart said of the Seagulls’ postseason run. “We were, obviously, upset that we lost the championship but then afterwards you think and it’s like, ‘Whoa, we got second at state.’ That’s a pretty great accomplishment.”
Taggart’s top moment from the state tournament was that home run against Kamiakin in the semifinal game. But she also enjoyed the whole experience and knew, after Everett got things going in its first two wins, that the Seagulls had a chance to do something special.
“It was crazy because I’ve never been to state before and once we won the (winner-to-state) game against Ferndale to go to state it was super exciting,” Taggart said. “And I had no idea how we would do at state but then after we won our second game I knew we could go all the way. I had full confidence. I got the chills and knew we could do it.”
The experience was heightened by the strong contingent of Everett fans that made the trek to Lacey. Two buses full of cheering Everett students lined the fence and cheered on Taggart and the Seagulls as they made their run to the title game.
“The whole atmosphere of being at state and everything, that’s what we want to be there for. Everyone coming and supporting us,” Taggart said. “The fun of winning and playing really good teams and beating them.”
Millar couldn’t pick just one skill to highlight for Taggart. Everett’s second-year coach said her command and mental makeup stand out, but that Taggart brings so much to the Seagulls.
“Physically, she’s as gifted as they come,” he said. “I’d say as a hitter, her raw power. She can get fooled on a pitch and still flick it out. Out of all the players that I’ve coached that’s probably the one thing, just the raw power that she displays at the plate.”
The junior has improved immensely each of her three years at Everett and, in what should terrify the Seagulls’ opponents, Millar hopes to see another big jump for Taggart her senior season.
“We’re going to work hard and challenge her to see how much better she can get. I’m excited for her to take that challenge,” Millar said. “It’ll be pretty tough to have a better record than we did, but that doesn’t mean we can’t be a better team.”
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