Prep softball: Seagulls clobber Mavericks 15-1 in district title game
Meadowdale's Julia Reuble pitches against Everett in the 3A District 1 championship game Thursday at Phil Johnson Ballfields in Everett. (Photos by Karl Swenson)
Meadowdale coach Dennis Hopkins had a clear message to his team after Thursday night's loss to Everett in the 3A District 1 softball championship game.
"Let it go. Just get ready to play your next game," Hopkins told his players. "Sometimes you have a bad day."
The Mavericks experienced that and more in a 15-1 loss to the Seagulls, the team's worst loss of the season, in a game called in the fifth inning due to the 10-run mercy rule at Phil Johnson Ballfields in Everett.
Hopkins said that the players appeared relaxed coming into the game but in fact may have been too relaxed.
"By the time things are going bad, you tighten up too much and things start going bad again," he said.
The Seagulls (22-1) took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the second inning on a lead-off home run by Megan Gordon. But the third inning was when Everett seized control of the contest, scoring 11 runs with five of them coming with two outs.
Meadowdale's Kaylee Williams celebrates her home run in the fifth inning.
Meadowdale's Julia Reuble started the game and was relieved by Samantha Gregoryk with one out in the inning.
"They were throwing strikes," Hopkins said of his pitchers. "They (Seagulls) were just hitting everything we were throwing. They worked, obviously, on that."
The Seagulls tacked on three more runs in the fourth.
Everett Sydney Taggart shut down the potent Meadowdale lineup, only allowing a solo home run by Kaylee Williams in the fifth inning.
"They're a great team. They deserve the win," Hopkins said. "It wasn't what we planned on when we left today. … Obviously you always want to win. Some days you don't want to lose by this much."
Both teams already qualified for the 3A state tournament, which is scheduled for May 29-30 at the Regional Athletic Complex in Lacey. This is the fourth straight trip to state for the Mavericks (20-3), who went 0-2 in the tournament last year.
In other tournament action, Lynnwood fell 20-7 to Ferndale in a loser-out game and Edmonds-Woodway claimed the third and final berth with a 6-5 victory over Ferndale.
– By David Pan
Meadowdale's Ciarra Hart swings at a pitch.
Lynnwood's Maddie Morgan pitches against Ferndale.