Prep softball: Addison Jay’s dominance in the circle has helped lead Mt. Spokane softball to unbeaten start

Mt. Spokane softball coach Carl Adams has been around the diamond long enough to know that one player won’t win or lose you a game.

But a dominant player – especially a pitcher – can be a powerful tool to have in your back pocket.

And Adams certainly has one in Addison Jay.

“A lot can go right for team with a player like her,” Adams said. “You see what she did today and what she’s done really throughout the year. Just go out there and throw strikes and make it tough on the opposing hitters.”

On Thursday afternoon, Jay showed off her skills both as a pitcher and a hitter as Mt. Spokane (17-0, 15-0 GSL) blanked rival Mead (15-2, 13-2) for the second time this season with a 10-0, five-inning win on the Panthers’ home field.

Jay, just a junior, threw a complete game against Mead, allowing just three hits and striking out 10 batters.

“It just feels really easy to do what I want to do with the ball right now,” Jay said. “But it’s really the incredible team behind me that makes all of this work like it has this year.”

The love for the game came from Jay’s two older sisters – both of whom also played for the Wildcats and Adams. Cassie Jay graduated after last season and was a first-team All-GSL catcher for her sister, while Emma Jay graduated in 2020 before continuing her career at Yakima Valley Community College.

“It was so incredible getting to learn from my sisters and then play with Cassie,” Addison said. “I know that’s not something everyone gets a chance to do, and they really have helped me grow into the player I am.”

It also helps that Jay’s 5-foot-11 frame produces an imposing stride to the plate that is paired with a fastball in the low to mid -60s.

But the key to her pitching attack might just be her array of effective offspeed offerings.

“I think it’s a good look to each have all those pitches and I like to mix in the offspeed a little bit,” Jay said. “A drop ball, and a rise ball or my change. I think it’s great to have them all and it’s just a different look for the batter.”

Jay also takes pride in the strides she’s made as a batter, as she is just one part of a deep offensive group for Adams.

On Thursday, Jay walked three times before squaring up a 3-2 pitch off the wall in center to put the Wildcats up 9-0 in the fifth.

“Our depth is just different than what it has been in past years,” Adams said. “We don’t need to have our two, three and four hitters to have a great day every day because it might be the six, seven, eight that day. You know, you take your pick, right?

“So that’s what’s just special about the group is in a given day, they all pick each other up and no one player has to carry the load every day.”

That point was proved against Mead as the top half of the lineup produced four runs in the first inning before outfielder Riley Kincaid blasted a two-run home run to left field out of the seven spot to put Mt. Spokane ahead 6-0 after one.

The production all throughout the lineup has also helped the Wildcats earn the top spot in the WIAA’s 3A RPI rankings. But Jay knows that being the top team in the state is more important – and more difficult to do – at the end of May than at the end of April.

“It burned a little bit last year going into state and then leaving without a trophy,” Jay said of the Wildcats’ quarterfinal and consolation losses in last year’s 3A tournament. “But that is what motivates us, and we are at the point where we just have to take it game-by-game and let our work turn into results.”

Adams, who has been at the program’s helm for the past 25 seasons, agrees that the toughest stretch is still to come. But he also believes that this team has the pieces to make a run.

“We know we can still get better offensively, and tweaking some things throughout the lineup,” Adams said. “We talk about putting a puzzle together every year, so we are still trying to do that. I know the pieces are there – it’s just about making it fit at the right time.”

Luckily for him and the Wildcats, one of those pieces is Jay.

“She’s a kid who wants to keep getting better,” Adams said. “And it’s really easy when you get a player of her caliber that wants to improve every day.”