State softball preview: Mt. Spokane leads seven area teams into state venues for final weekend

It was a little bit of a down year for Spokane-area teams in fastpitch softball with just seven teams qualifying for state tournaments .

Only one Greater Spokane League team, league champion Mt. Spokane, made it through district play. The Wildcats were assigned the No. 7 seed in State 3A and will face No. 10 Mountlake Terrace on Friday at 9 a.m. at the Regional Athletic Complex in Lacey.

The winner of that contest moves into a quarterfinal later that day and the loser drops into the third-place bracket.

Carl Adams leads Mt. Spokane (21-2) in his 23rd season as the head coach. His lineup is stacked with four first-team All-GSL selections – senior infielder Jessica Waters, senior outfielder Willow Almquist, junior catcher Cassie Jay and freshman pitcher Addison Jay.

Senior infielder Whitney Browning and junior outfielder Ainsley Buchanan were second-team picks.

Despite being the second seed to the District 8 3A tournament, the Wildcats had to travel to Walla Walla to take on the fifth-seeded Blue Devils in the championship game – the Mid-Columbia Conference was the designated host this season.

Walla Walla (8-14) upset Mt. Spokane 4-2 , getting a three-run homer by Sidney McCauley in the sixth inning, but both teams moved on to state. Walla Walla was assigned the No. 11 seed by the state seeding committee.

1A

District 7’s third-seeded Deer Park (16-4) knocked off regular-season Northeast A champion Riverside (15-3) in the district title game 2-1 on Saturday as Paige Hamilton homered and struck out 11 .

The Stags feature NEA Offensive Player of the Year Brooklyn Dryden, outfielder Sammy Fausti and Hamilton – all three were first-team all-league picks for coach of the year Dana Shaw.

Riverside bounced back from the title game loss to beat second-seeded Freeman in the second-place game later that day to earn the district’s second berth to state – a 10-9 game decided in the eighth inning when Lexie Repp hit a walk-off single with two outs.

The Rams had five first-team selections: defensive player of the year Alison Lapano, infielders Kynlea Toner and Emma Oergel, outfielder Aden Berger and catcher Bree Waldron.

Deer Park is the sixth seed at state and faces No. 11 seed Bellevue Christian in an opening-round loser-out game Thursday at 3 p.m. at Columbia Playfields in Richland.

Fifth-seeded Riverside takes on No. 12 Kiona-Benton at 3 p.m. in a loser-out.

2B

Second-seeded Northwest Christian (19-2) beat regular-season champ Colfax (16-4) 2-1 in the District 7 2B title game on Saturday as Kaitlyn Waters hit a two-run double in the sixth inning and Katie Coriell struck out eight .

Colfax came back to beat fourth-seeded Liberty – in the Lancers’ third game of the day – 11-0 in the second-place game to reach state. Delaney Imler struck out eight in five innings and Harper Booth went 2 for 4 with a double and three RBIs.

Both teams play first-round loser-outs on Friday at Gateway Sports Complex in Yakima.

NWC is the No. 5 seed and takes on 12th-seeded Cle Elum-Roslyn. Eighth-seeded Colfax plays No. 9 Raymond-South Bend. Both games are at 10 a.m.

1B

District 7 champion Inchelium (20-3) and second-seeded Almira/Coulee-Hartline (17-8) made it through the crossover last weekend to advance to the state venue in Yakima.

Inchelium is the No. 2 seed and faces No. 7 Quilcene in the first round. Fifth-seeded ACH plays No. 4 DeSales. in the eight-team bracket.