State slowpitch: Kaidyn Howard ignites University offense in 3A/2A title game win over Mead; Central Valley places second in 4A

YAKIMA – The state slowpitch tournament grows each year with more schools across the state adopting the sport in the fall to allow more athletes the opportunity to compete in a team environment.

But teams still have to go through Spokane to get a trophy.

Greater Spokane League teams featured prominently Saturday afternoon at the Gateway Sports Complex , site of the State 4A and State 3A/2A championships.

University knocked off Mead 10-1 in the 3A/2A title game, and Central Valley fell to Chiawana 17-2 in five innings in the 4A championship.

Mt. Spokane, which lost to U-Hi 4-3 in a semifinal on Friday, downed Walla Walla 24-4 in five innings in the 3A/2A third-place game.

“I’m so happy right now,” U-Hi senior pitcher Autumn Hibbs said. “We came out knowing what we wanted and we got it.”

“It feels great,” U-Hi junior infielder Maliyah Mann said. “We really worked hard toward our goal this year of winning the last game of the season.”

Mann was proud that so many GSL schools played on championship day.

“I feel like not a lot of schools from the same place get worked up to be here, and the fact that so many schools from the GSL here is pretty nice,” she said.

U-Hi, the No. 1 overall seed in the 3A/2A tournament, went undefeated in league with its only two losses in nonleague matchups against Mt. Spokane.

“Mission accomplished,” U-Hi coach Matt Connor said. “From our first day we kind of had a saying, you know, ‘Keep our eye on the prize.’ And we went back to that all year just making sure we stayed focused.

“We kept working and even through a couple of hurdles. We kept the kept saying, ‘Keep your eye on the prize,’ and today we got the prize.”

Mead was given the seventh seed in the 3A/2A bracket despite winning all but two games this season. On Friday, the Panthers knocked off second-seeded R.A. Long 13-2 and downed third-seeded Walla Walla 13-6 to reach the championship game.

“I could not be more proud of these girls,” Mead coach Tiffany Casedy said. “They worked so hard all season.

“Not how we wanted to end it, but even just to fight to get an extra run is great and I just adore their hard work and their attitude and just how they handled themselves all season.”

Central Valley, the GSL 4A champ, entered the state tourney as the seventh seed but dispatched second-seeded Moses Lake 10-7 and third-seeded Union 16-6 on Friday to reach Saturday’s title game.

But the Bears ran into a buzz saw in Chiawana, the defending state champ, which knocked off CV in the District 8 title game last weekend.

CV made its third straight appearance in the 4A title game.

“The message I had for – especially my seniors – was, you know, this was the third year in a row that we’ve landed in this game and, and as we know, this game, it can go either way,” CV coach Joe Stanton said.

“I told my seniors, ‘It stings right now, but give it a few days. When (you) walk by that trophy case and look at what you’ve accomplished, over the last four years, I think that’ll kind of help take some of this away.’ ”

The Wildcats might have taken out some aggression in the third-place game, jumping on the Blue Devils for 26 hits in five innings.

“We represented ourselves really well,” Mt. Spokane coach Carl Adams said. “We played in a tough league, and it showed up here this weekend.”

Recaps

University 10, Mead 1: Kaidyn Howard went 4 for 4 with a double and four runs, and the Titans (19-2) pulled away from the Panthers (17-3) in the middle innings.

Mann went 3 for 4 with a double, run and two RBIs while Natalie Singer had three hits, a run and two RBIs for U-Hi.

Campbell Brose, who went 2 for 3 with a double and run scored, led Mead.

The Titans led 4-0 entering the fifth inning and put up a four-spot, with Singer and Mann delivering run-scoring hits.

Mann drove in Singer from second with a single in the seventh for an insurance run.

Chiawana 17, Central Valley 2 (5): Adriana Rodriguez went 3 for 4 with a home run, two doubles and five RBIs and the Riverhawks (23-2) topped the Bears (16-6).

CV scored twice in the top of the first as Ella Bendele and Sierra Fischer delivered run-scoring hits. Chiawana replied with two in the bottom half, then added four in the third and six in the fourth.

Grace Melcher went 3 for 3 with a run for CV.

Mt. Spokane 24, Walla Walla 4 (5): Jessica Waters went 4 for 5 with a home run, double and three RBIs and the Wildcats (15-6) routed the Blue Devils (16-10).

Whitney Browning went 3 for 3 with three runs and two RBIs while Avery Erickson went 3 for 3 with five runs.

Mt. Spokane put up five runs in the first and tacked on 13 in the second as Browning, Peyton Bischoff and Ainsley Buchanan knocked in runs during the rally.