LACEY — Abby Edwards and Camryn Sage served as a one-two punch for the Snohomish High School softball team Friday.
Edwards struck out nine in seven innings, and Sage’s solo home run in the top of the fifth inning started the dominoes falling as sixth-seeded Snohomish defeated 14th-seeded Seattle Prep 8-0 to advance to the semifinals of the Class 3A state tournament Friday at the Regional Athletic Complex.
Sage’s homer ignited a seven-run rally as Snohomish (20-6), which had been frustrated by Seattle Prep pitcher Erica Daher, broke the game open.
“Our girls like faster pitching,” Snohomish coach Patti Lande said. “That’s kind of more of their jam. … My hat’s off to (Daher) because that was her third game pitching. She was exhausted. … But I just know … they’re more used to (faster pitches), so I think that was why it took a minute to get their bearings.”
Snohomish, which beat 11th-seeded Prairie 13-0 earlier in the day to reach the quarterfinals, faces seventh-seeded Garfield in the semifinals at 10 a.m. Saturday. Garfield narrowly topped 10th-seeded Stanwood 7-6 in the second round.
Snohomish took a 1-0 lead in the top of the fourth, but couldn’t get much else going against Daher, who struck out seven in five innings. But that changed in the sixth after Sage’s homer gave Snohomish a 2-0 lead.
“We had been seeing high outside pitches,” the senior Sage said about her home run. “We were way up on the line because we knew if (Daher) throws you in, just turn on it. So I saw it coming in, and it was kind of the perfect pitch.”
After that the floodgates opened. Junior Hannah Siegler singled on a line drive to left field, bringing home freshman Allison Rush. Junior Audrey Ebia spread the score by four also during the the play. Then with bases loaded, Sage doubled on a ground ball to left field, driving in seniors Zoey Lynch and Rian Doyle for a 6-0 advantage.
Seattle Prep made a pitching change, but it didn’t stop Snohomish as Sage came home on a wild pitch to make it 7-0. Senior Alexandra Flohr added the last run in the top of the seventh after a Seattle Prep error.
For Snohomish it’s the second straight year reaching the state semifinals.
“We really got to just focus on the simple things: putting the ball in play and making the other team execute their game,” Sage said about the game plan for the semifinal game. “We talked today, ‘Play the game, not the team,’ and I think that’s going to be really important going into tomorrow.”
Prior to the quarterfinal game, Snohomish blanked Prairie 13-0 in the second round, scoring eight runs in the first before adding five more in the fourth.
Edwards, a sophomore, not only pitched three innings, striking out six batters and giving up one walk and two hits in the contest, she also had a solo home run and two RBI. Senior Avery Clark tallied three RBI and two runs, Sage two RBI and one run and Lynch three RBI, one stolen base and one run.
Other local teams still competing for a trophy
Monroe 18, Heritage 8
After losing to fifth-seeded Auburn Riverside 18-4 in the second round, the 12th-seeded Bearcats downed 13th-seeded Auburn Moutnainview 10-3 before defeating 18th-seeded Heritage in the loser-out, consolation bracket.
Scarlett Nagy and Vivian Knuckey each homered, and Hadley Oylear, Holly Pettitt, Izzy Webster, Maddie Fields, Madison Bannister and Kate Zacharda scored two runs apiece.
Monroe faces eighth-seeded Everett in a loser-out game at 10 a.m. Saturday
Everett 10, Seattle Prep 5
The eighth-seeded Seagulls lost an 8-7, eight-inning heartbreaker to ninth-seeded Roosevelt in the second round before winning the Battle of Broadway 5-4 against 17th-seeded Cascade and eliminating 14th-seeded Seattle Prep in the loser-out, consolation bracket.
Braylon Yarwood, Mia Hoekendorf and Samantha Stine each homered with Yarwood and Stine each tallying three RBI. Madeline Pewitt and Haylie Oyler each scored two runs. Hoekendorf pitched five innings, striking out eight batters.
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