Oct. 22—The Greater Spokane League has traditionally had great success at the state slowpitch tournaments, and this year the "League of Champions" is sending five teams to participate in the two brackets to be contested at Kiwanis Fields in Yakima this weekend.
Ferris earned one of the two District 6 berths in the 4A tournament, while reigning 3A/2A state champion Mt. Spokane leads four GSL teams in that bracket.
4A
Ferris: The Saxons finished the season at 11-7 overall and 8-5 in the highly competitive GSL this season — fifth overall and the top 4A team in the league.
They were the top seed to districts and beat Lewis and Clark 16-7 in a semifinal but fell 22-11 to Chiawana in the championship game. Faced with a loser-out second-place game against Mead, the Saxons rallied for four runs in the seventh inning to walk-off the Panthers 15-14 and reach state.
Ferris earned the No. 7 seed in the 4A bracket and faces No. 2 Juanita of Kirkland in a first-round game on Friday at 1 p.m. Chiawana (19-1), the District 6 champ, is the No. 1 seed and faces No. 8 Woodinville at 3 p.m. in the first round.
Key players: SS Isabella Hao, C Ellie Robinson, 3B Tori Norling, CF Holly Dunham, 2B Nola Honican.
3A/2A
Mt. Spokane: The Wildcats are defending state champion in both slowpitch and fastpitch. They went 18-0 this season (13-0 in league) and outscored opponents 275-50, holding teams to one run or less 11 times, cruising to the league regular season title by two games over University and Ridgeline.
In districts, the top-seeded Wildcats breezed through a first-round game against Shadle Park 11-0 and downed Deer Park in a semi 12-1 before handling Ridgeline in the championship game 16-6, as pitcher Avery Fox homered three times with seven RBIs.
The Cats are the No. 1 seed at state and face No. 8 Inglemoor (8-12) in a first-round game on Friday at 11 a.m.
Key players: SS Emme Bond, P Avery Fox, OF Gracy Hannum, OF Madi O'Neill.
Ridgeline: The Falcons (15-6, 11-2) tied for second in league this season and were the fourth seed to the district tournament. They handled University 12-6 in the first round and beat Central Valley 6-3 in a semifinal to punch their ticket to state before falling to Mt. Spo in the title game.
Ridgeline earned the No. 2 seed at state and takes on seventh-seeded Ballard (12-4) in a first-round game Friday at 9 a.m.
Key players: 3B Aaliyah Yeldon, OF Persais Triplett, SS Kadence Barcus, P Colbie Hallett.
Deer Park: The only 2A team from the league to qualify for the state tournament, the Stags went 13-7 overall and 10-3 in league. After knocking off third-seeded Sageview in a district first-round matchup, the Stags fell to Mt. Spokane in a semifinal. They exploded for 26 runs in the loser-out third-place game against University, pounding 11 home runs — including three by Karpi Bailey.
No. 3 Deer Park plays sixth-seeded Columbia River (13-7) in a first-round game at 9 a.m. on Friday.
Key players: SS Kapri Bailey, 1B Jillian Marshall, C Lexi Piper, P Makenzie Reynolds, OF Gracie Bircher, 3B Hailey Thompson.
Shadle Park: The Highlanders (11-7, 8-5) finished sixth in the league and were shut out by Mt. Spokane in the district opener before eliminating Sageview and Central Valley to advance to state.
Shadle was awarded the No. 5 seed and faces fourth-seeded R.A. Long (18-1) at 11 a.m. on Friday in the first round.
Key players: 1B Regan Peterson, SS Bella Dahl, C Emma Duncan, OF Ava Edgar, OF Abby Smith.