Two heavyweight contenders slugged it out in the championship game of the Class 4 District 2 Softball Tournament at Chesterfield Valley Athletic Conference on Saturday, October 16.
Rockwood Summit not only was the top seed for the district tournament, but also has been ranked No. 1 in Class 4 throughout the season. Washington was the No. 2 seed in the district tournament and has been climbing up the Class 4 state rankings all season, landing at No. 3 in the latest poll.
The Lady Jays dominated the district title game, leading throughout the contest in an 8-4 victory.
“As soon as our district assignments were announced, I knew it was going to come down to us against them. There was going to be a good team not get through,” said Washington Head Coach Philip King. “It was nice to jump out to an 8-1 lead. The girls were ready to play.”
Washington (29-5) advances to the Class 4 quarterfinals, where they will play at Farmington (30-6) on Thursday, October 21, at 5 p.m. The Knights, ranked No. 2 in the latest Class 4 state poll, claimed the District 1 title with a 4-2 victory over Hillsboro.
The quarterfinal game will be played at Farmington Sports Complex, 1100 Sainte Genevieve Avenue, Farmington, MO 63640. All tickets to the game must be purchased online. There will be no onsite ticket sales.
Click here to purchase tickets.
The winner of the quarterfinal game will advance to the Class 4 state tournament in Springfield on Thursday and Friday, October 28 and 29.
Click here for the MSHSAA Class 4 playoff bracket.
Taylor Brown pitched all seven innings for Washington in the district title game. Against a potent Summit lineup, she allowed four runs on six hits with one walk and 12 strikeouts.
“I think Taylor is the best pitcher in the state. I would take her over anyone,” King said.
“I felt great. Kelsie (Holtmeyer) behind the plate always calls a great game and my defense is there to back me up. They make it easy for me,” Brown said. “It feels amazing. I’m so excited. I don’t know what else to say. All of the girls on the team work great together.”
The Lady Jays jumped out to an 8-1 lead with one run in the top of the first inning, three in the third, two in the fifth and two in the sixth.
Rockwood Summit (28-3) countered with one run in the fourth and three in the seventh.
The biggest hit of the game came off the bat of Washington’s Myla Inman, who crushed a three-run homer over the left field fence in the top of the third inning to give the Lady Jays a 4-0 lead.
“Myla’s home run really got us going and pushed us to keep going,” Brown said.
Washington collected 10 hits in the game. Lacy Monzyk, Inman and Brown each had two hits. Christine Gerling, Maddie Guevara, Emily Bruckerhoff and Grace Molitor each added one hit. Inman finished with three RBIs and one run. Brown added two RBIs, two walks and one run. Monzyk also drew a walk and scored two runs. Gerling also walked and scored. Guevara had one RBI. Molitor also walked and scored three runs.
“We have a deep lineup. One through nine, we’re more than capable of coming through anywhere in our lineup,” King said. “We had a lot of good at-bats against two good pitchers.”
Pictures from Washington’s district championship game against Rockwood Summit are below.
