Washington High School’s historic, dominant and memorable softball season ended with a state championship on Friday evening, October 29.
Playing in the MSHSAA Class 4 Softball Championships in Springfield, Washington continued its dominance through the postseason with a pair of mercy rule victories, an 11-0 victory in five innings over Rolla in the championship game and a 10-0 win over Platte County in six innings in the semifinals.
The Lady Jays (32-5) ended their season on a school record 19-game winning streak.
It’s Washington High School’s second team state championship, joining the 1973 Blue Jays football team.
“It’s awesome. I knew all along we were one of the top teams in the state, but you just never know what’s going to happen when the postseason arrives and its single elimination. It only takes one day of being off your game and the season is over. It takes being hot at the right time, which we were,” said Washington Head Coach Philip King. “We had a huge win over Rockwood Summit to win the district championship. Farmington had a very good team in the quarterfinals. We got those two wins and just kind of rolled from there.”
Washington vs. Rolla
Like they have throughout the postseason, the Lady Jays set the tone early in the state championship game at Killian Softball Complex with five runs in the bottom of the first inning against Rolla and never looked back.
Washington added six runs in the bottom of the fourth inning to increase its lead to 11-0 and ended the game in the top of the fifth inning with the 10-run mercy rule.
Taylor Brown, who was unhittable in the two state games in Springfield, pitched all five innings for Washington, allowing no runs on two hits with two walks and 13 strikeouts.
Brown had plenty of help from her teammates as the Lady Jays committed no errors in the field and collected 12 hits in just four innings of at-bats.
Christine Gerling carried a hot bat in Springfield, going 3-3 at the plate against Rolla with two runs scored and one RBI. For the two state games, Gerling was 6-6 at the plate with one walk.
Brown helped herself at the plate with two hits and one RBI. She was 4-5 overall with two walks at state. Lacy Monzyk, Myla Inman, Maddie Guevara, Lexi Lewis, Emily Bruckerhoff, Grace Molitor and Loren Thurmon (double) each finished with one hit. Inman added one walk, one RBI and two runs. Guevara collected two RBIs, two runs and a stolen base. Lewis had one RBI and one run. Thurmon and Molitor both had two RBIs. Monzyk, Bruckerhoff and Elizabeth Reed each scored a run.
“We were bummed out that we didn’t play on Thursday, so we had a day of just sitting in the hotel with bad weather outside. We got a little stir crazy,” King said. “We still didn’t think we would play on Friday, it was still pretty bad outside. We played anyway. I knew we had an advantage because Taylor strikes out so many girls that we had less balls in play to deal with on a wet field than our opponents did.”
Washington vs. Platte County
The Lady Jays advanced to the title game earlier in the day on Friday, October 29, with a 10-0 win over Platte County in six innings in a semifinal contest at Parkview High School.
Brown had another dominating performance in the circle, tossing a one-hit shutout with one walk and 15 strikeouts over six innings.
“Taylor has a great work ethic and she’s really focused,” King said. “She’s one of the more coachable girls we have. As good as she is, she always listens when one of the coaches is talking to her. She listens, learns and takes it all in.”
Washington took a 1-0 lead with a run in the bottom of the third inning. The Lady Jays added four runs in the bottom of the fifth to increase the lead to 5-0 and ended it with five more runs in the bottom of the sixth.
“Platte County bent a little early on, but didn’t break,” King said. “I knew eventually we would do some damage against their pitcher.”
The Lady Jays finished the contest with 10 hits. Gerling led the charge by going 3-3 at the plate with a walk and a run. Monzyk and Molitor both collected two hits and scored two runs. Brown, Inman and Lewis each added one hit. Brown also walked and had one RBI. Inman and Lewis both added one RBI and one run. Guevara walked and scored a run. Bruckerhoff had one RBI. Reed scored one run.
“Through the two games at state, everyone who batted got a hit. Everyone who batted scored except for Taylor and that’s because we use a courtesy runner for Taylor and her runner scored four times. Everyone who batted had an RBI except for our leadoff batter and nobody had more than two RBIs. It was a complete team effort,” King said.
“Our offense really came through in our postseason run. It’s not like we were winning games 1-0 or 2-1. We scored eight runs on Rockwood Summit, six on Farmington, and then 10 on Platte County and 11 on Rolla,” King added.
“Christine and Taylor had a great two games at the plate. Maddie didn’t have as many hits, but she was tattooing the ball and they kept making plays on her. Loren had a really nice double. She crushed the ball two times against Platte County that were caught. Even when we didn’t get hits, the girls had good at-bats. The whole lineup was clicking.”
Washington’s defense also was a strength not only at state, but throughout the season.
“Our defense was very good. When there were plays to be made, we usually made them,” King said. “Kelsie (Holtmeyer) does a really good job as our catcher. She threw out about a third of the runners trying to steal on us this year. A lot of runners didn’t try to steal against us this year because they knew there was a high chance Kelsie would throw them out. Kelsie also frames pitches really well. She pulls all of those boarder line pitches in for strikes. She also calls a good game. If Taylor gets anxious, she’ll go out there and calm her down. It’s like having Yadi back there. She throws people out and calls a good game. It’s like having a coach on the field.”
Washington softball should continue to be force on the diamond in the coming years. Lewis is the only senior on the team. There are nine sophomores, three juniors, and one freshman.
“We lose one senior and we’ll miss Lexi. We have our entire pitching staff coming back. All of the girls will be a year older and a year stronger. As long as the girls continue to work on their game during the summer, we should be better,” King said. “It’s a great group of kids. I enjoy being around all of them. They all cheer for each other. It was a fun season and something the girls will have memories of forever.”
Coaches for the WHS softball program are Philip King, Dane Gough, Grant Young and Tim Zumsteg.
Washington High School will host a state celebration for students and parents; recognition of the state championship softball team and state qualifiers from the other fall sports teams on Tuesday, November 9, at 2:45 p.m. at Scanlan Stadium on the WHS campus. The rain date is Wednesday, November 10, at 2:45 p.m. The student body will be on hand in the stadium. The recognitions will take place on the field.
Class 4 State Softball Champions
The Washington High School Softball Lady Jays are MSHSAA Class 4 State Champions with a 32-5 overall record. Front row, from left, are Christine Gerling, Kelsie Holtmeyer, Lexi Lewis, Elizabeth Reed, Grace Molitor and Ella Lause. Middle row from left, are Lauren Opfer, Myla Inman, Lacy Monzyk and Kendall Nix. Back row, from left, are Assistant Coaches Dane Gough and Grant Young, Taylor Brown, Emily Bruckerhoff, Loren Thurmon, Maddie Guevara, Assistant Coach Tim Zumsteg and Head Coach Philip King.
Washington Missourian Photo
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