Othello hosts Grandview today

OTHELLO — The Othello Huskies will begin their quest for a 14th consecutive trip to the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association (WIAA) state softball tournament this afternoon when they host the Grandview Greyhounds.

The Huskies have qualified for the WIAA 2A state tournament in each of the previous 11 seasons and are the defending state champions following a 3-0 victory over the Burlington-Edison Tigers in last season’s final.

Othello qualified for the 3A state tournament in the 1996 and 1997 seasons before dropping down to the 2A classification.

Othello wrapped up their Central Washington Athletic Conference (CWAC) regular season in third place with a 15-3 record, earning the conference’s No. 3 seed heading into the district tournament.

The Huskies got off to a fast start in their quest for another state title, dominating Grandview 19-4 and 12-2 to sweep a doubleheader to start the season 2-0.

Othello rattled off seven straight wins to begin their CWAC season, including a 2-1 victory over conference champion Ellensburg on April 8. Ellensburg rallied for a 5-2 victory in the second game of the doubleheader to hand the Huskies their first loss of the season.

After losing at home to Ellensburg, the Huskies rebounded to win their next eight contests heading into a doubleheader with the Selah Vikings on May 14.

With a automatic spot in the district semifinals at stake, the Vikings managed to hold off the Huskies in both games to send Othello to the tournament as the No. 3 seed and into the quarterfinals.

The Huskies have relied on a potent offense this season to qualify for the playoffs.

Othello’s Alyssa Martinez led the Huskies in batting this season, hitting a league-leading .650 this season. Martinez won the regular-season batting title by 83 points over Ellensburg’s Kelsey Bailes.

While Martinez led the league in batting, she wasn’t the only Othello player to have an impressive season at the plate.

Of the top-15 sluggers in the conference, Othello is home to six of them.

Othello’s Brenda Rodriguez finished the season fourth at .560 and just seven points separated the second and fourth spots.

Miranda Martinez hit .482 for the Huskies and Eden Garza finished the season with a .473 batting average. Breanna Montemayor hit .459 and Kylee Mollotte hit .450 this season.

Montemayor not only finished among the conference’s elite in average, she finished near the top in power as well. Montemayor finished the season with a pair of home runs — one shy of the conference lead (3).

Not only did the Huskies perform well at the plate this season, they came through with runners in scoring position.

Othello had four batters finish in the top-five in RBIs. Garza and Martinez tied to lead the conference with 31 RBIs each. Rodriguez finished fourth with 28, and Mollotte grabbed the fifth spot with 24.

Only Ellensburg’s Sarah McNamee (third-29) managed to break Othello’s grip atop the conference’s RBI list.

While the Othello offense seemed to carry the Huskies throughout the season, Othello starting pitchers Garza and Julyssa McKertie combined for an impressive 16-2 record this season to lead Othello. Garza and McKertie each went 8-1 this season, respectively.

The Huskies will begin their trip through the district tournament a 4 p.m. this afternoon when they host Grandview at Othello High School.

The Greyhounds are coming off a 7-6 win over Ephrata.

Quincy will play East Valley in the other quarterfinal game today.