EDMONDS — After Ella Campbell walked Amaya Hernandez at the top of the fifth inning against Archbishop Murphy on Wednesday, then fell down in the count against Sarah Fletcher in the next at-bat, Edmonds-Woodway softball coach Josh McClure went out to the circle.
“I’m fine,” Campbell said before McClure even reached her.
“Hey, this isn’t about you,” McClure said jokingly, wanting to add some “levity to the situation,” as he later put it. “Next pitch, and we’re good.”
McClure turned around and went back to the dugout, keeping the meeting brief to just give his pitcher a break. Campbell struck out the next two batters, protecting Edmonds-Woodway’s 4-0 lead.
In the bottom of the inning, the Warriors (8-3 overall, 4-1 league) tacked on five more runs en route to a 9-2 win against the Wildcats (9-4, 6-2). Campbell (2-for-4, 3B, RBI) struck out eight batters and allowed four hits across six innings of work, and the senior pitcher was one of six Warriors to drive in a run at the plate.
“I had complete faith in our group,” Campbell said. “I think we’ve been showing up to the field every day, practice or not, like it’s a game. We’re always there, we’re showing up, I’ve just seen an immense amount of effort.”
For the Wildcats, junior Carly Madhavan went 2-for-3, while junior Ari Dixon (1-for-3, RBI) struck out six and allowed eight hits in the circle across five innings.
Edmonds-Woodway replaced Archbishop Murphy at the top of the Wesco South 3A/2A standings with the win, and they did so with sophomores Ellie Alderson (2-for-2, RBI, two runs) and Noa Gillespie (1-for-3, double, two RBI, two runs) playing out of position in the infield. With injuries and illness impacting the roster, the Warriors dug deep and relied on their depth to produce.
“They’re amazing out there, they could just do anything,” said freshman Ava Whisenhunt (0-for-3, RBI). “You could put them in the circle, probably, and they would strike out everybody.”
After Monday’s 5-1 win against Shorewood, in which no one besides the first three batters in the Warriors order recorded a hit, McClure challenged his team to focus on putting the ball in play, even if it doesn’t result in a hit.
Ironically, it was the first three batters who went down in the first inning before the rest of the order built up a lead in the second. Gillespie was hit by a pitch to lead it off, and Alderson advanced her while reaching first on a bunt.
From there, the next three batters — sophomore Helena Marsh (1-for-3, RBI, run), Whisenhunt and junior Neva Cheeney (1-for-3, double, RBI) — each drove in a run via a single, sacrifice fly and double, respectively, to make it 3-0.
“We need to put it in play, and good things will happen,” McClure said. “They’re responsible for the outcome of that. I just give them the challenge and the opportunity, and instead of cowering and walking away from the challenge, they embraced it.”
Alderson drove in another run in the bottom of the third with a single, while Campbell mowed through Archbishop Murphy’s order. Campbell faced eight total batters between the third and fourth innings, allowing two to reach base while retiring the other six.
After striking out Wildcats junior Saylah Lopez (1 inning pitched, no hits, no walks, one strikeout) to end the fourth inning, Campbell let out a celebratory yell before heading to the dugout. After not pitching her entire junior season due to an arm injury, Campbell is thankful to be back in her element.
“It means everything to me,” Campbell said. “I love this sport. I love my team, I love playing for them. And honestly, at the end of the day, I put it all out there for my community and my coaches and my teammates.”
Campbell drove in Edmonds-Woodway’s fifth run with a single in the bottom of the fifth, and Gillespie pushed it to 7-0 with a 2-RBI double. Whisenhunt brought the final two runs across the plate – albeit not in the scorebook – when her swing to center field dropped out of the outfielder’s glove for an error, allowing the two base-runners to score.
Archbishop Murphy spoiled Campbell’s shutout bid in the top of the sixth via a fielder’s choice and sacrifice fly to cut it to 9-2, but Marsh closed out the seventh inning in relief by striking out two out of four batters faced.
In his second season at the helm of the program, McClure said his group is still learning how to win. Before the game, he heard them talking about Archbishop Murphy’s talent and the statistics they had put together.
“I just remind them, ‘Hey, we’re a pretty good team, too. Let’s worry about us,’” McClure said. “That’s hard to convince teenagers that the other team isn’t better just because they’re in the other dugout, but once the game started, they showed that they were just going to worry about us, and I’ll say it again, I’m real proud of them.”
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