Slate 3A/2A slowpitch: Quincy Schuerman homers, knocks in 3; Mt. Spokane beats University for third straight title

The conditions were less than ideal to conduct a state championship slowpitch softball game. It didn’t make the result any less sweet.

Quincy Schuerman hit a two-run homer in the fourth inning, then delivered a walk-off single in the sixth, and the top-seeded Mt. Spokane Wildcats captured their third consecutive State 3A/2A title with a 12-2 win over their Greater Spokane League rival, the third-seeded University Titans, on Saturday at West Valley High School in Yakima.

The homer was Schuerman’s team-leading 14th of the season and the Wildcats finished with 54 overall.

“It’s incredible,” Schuerman said. (Three in a row) is an incredibly hard thing to do, but we were ready and we were prepared, and we were ready to see (University) again – but we would have been ready for any other team too. All three games this weekend we played like it was our last.”

The Wildcats outscored their three opponents at the state tournament 59-6.

Kaydin Bradeen went 4 for 4 with a double and an RBI, while Makenzie Morris added a solo homer for the Wildcats.

“It started (Friday) night with the driving rainstorm and getting through that. Our kids seemed to kind of feed off just the different environment and the tougher it got, they seemed to just focus even more,” Mt. Spokane coach Carl Adams said of the lousy weather. “And I think that was the same (Saturday), a little bit of rain to start the game, and then the sun came out. Made it tough to maybe see the ball at times for both teams. But they just grind through. It’s just what they do.”

It’s the third consecutive year the Wildcats (21-0) and Titans (18-4) squared off in the state title game. In the six seasons since the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association split state slowpitch into two brackets, either Mt. Spokane or U-Hi have been 3A/2A champions.

The GSL was the first league in the state to bring back slowpitch in 2005 and move it to a fall sport. The WIAA sanctioned state tournaments in 2017.

“I think the fact that the league has been playing for as long as it’s been playing, that’s a big thing,” Adams said. “And we get our kids to come out and play – if they play in the spring, they’ll come play slowpitch in the fall as well, and that helps.”

“Our motto is ‘Earned, not given,’ ” Schuerman said. “People aren’t going to fall over for us and we’re not gonna be able to just walk all over them. We had to come out every game ready to play.”

Mt. Spokane pitcher Avery Fox held U-Hi to five hits and two walks, made a heads-up defensive play in the fifth and added a two-run single in the second inning.

“I just feel like my defense will always have me,” Fox said. “I always know that they’re gonna make that special play, or just know that they have my back in any situation.”

“(Fox) does some things pitching wise, and tries to make a little bit tougher on the opponent, but that’s just who she is,” Adams said. “She’s going to defer, deflect the accolades to her teammates, because that’s just who she is. But she does a great job in a tough situation.”

Yakima was pelted with rains Friday evening and Saturday morning, rendering Kiwanis Field – itself a replacement for Gateway Sports Complex – unplayable. The championship game was rescheduled from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m., then moved across Yakima to West Valley High.

The third-place bracket for both classifications were canceled, and all four teams remaining in both classifications – including West Valley – shared third place.

“I tip my hat to (West Valley). I mean, the state, West Valley for being willing to host this. I just can’t say enough good things about that. It’s a really hard spot to be in, right? I mean, we were dealing with one field, one opponent, 20 minutes away, and they’re trying to manage all this stuff, and they did a great job.”

The game started with heavy drizzle and wind, which eventually gave way to a late afternoon sun that was directly in the hitters’ eyes, forcing some to scramble for sunglasses. The wind blowing in from left early on knocked several fly balls and line drives down, keeping them from leaving the park.

But the breeze seemed to still for the fourth inning, when Schuerman and Morris hit back-to-back jacks to turn an 8-1 lead into an 11-1 advantage.

“Honestly, my first two at-bats weren’t great,” Schuerman said. “I just wanted to get a ball that I could drive and hopefully drive it for a base hit and get a run out of it.”

“(Schuerman) is strong, and she hits the ball hard,” Adams said. “And (the homer) came at a very good time. She’s kind of the product of getting years of hard work and hitting the weight room and that kind of thing. And right kid, right spot in that moment.”

U-Hi rallied for a run in the fifth on back-to-back doubles by pinch-hitters Cheyenne Kinswa and Jayden Thomas, but three consecutive singles by Addi Jay, Bradeen and Schuerman in the sixth triggered the mercy rule.

Mt. Spokane won all three matchups between the rivals this season.

“Winning two in a row, we obviously wanted to make it three,” Fox said. “The GSL, we’re all just so competitive, and we all think we should be playing for the championship. We just all want to go to state and show what our school can do.”