Huskies go 3-2 at state tournament

SELAH — No. 9 seed Othello went 3-2 at last week’s 2A State Softball Tournament in Selah, picking up wins against No. 8 Olympic, No. 14 Enumclaw, No. 12 Lynden but suffering losses to No. 1 Sedro-Woolley and No. 2 North Kitsap.

The Huskies’ opening game of the tournament was a rematch of last season’s state opening round, facing off against the Olympic Trojans. Othello lost 11-3 a year ago.

“The girls all week were like, ‘We will not lose this time, we’re really going to get this one,’” Othello head coach Alyssa Martinez said. “That mentality really helped them at practice all week. It was a special trip, and to have a rematch and get a second chance at it was pretty awesome.”

Othello took a 1-0 lead in the top of the first inning on an RBI single by junior Emi Pruneda, maintaining the lead throughout the game; the Huskies added additional runs in the top of the fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh innings with RBI from senior Miccaela Valdez, senior Naraiah Guzman and junior Lovie Franco to take a 6-1 win.

Senior Amarie Guzman delivered 10 strikeouts and surrendered just three hits in the win.

“It was a lot of fun — they played confident and they played together,” Martinez said. 

The opening-round win set up another rematch of a 2023 state playoff game, this time against the No. 1 seed Sedro-Wooley Cubs. Othello defeated the Cubs in last year’s consolation second round 11-10, eliminating them from the tournament.

It didn’t take long for the Cubs to get their bats rolling, going up 5-0 midway through the second inning.

“They can score first, it doesn’t matter — we can hit,” Martinez said. “It took the girls a couple rounds to adjust to the pitcher, she had a crazy change-up so she was getting on girls on that. We hadn’t really seen a true change-up all year, other than our pitcher.”

Othello rallied to tie the game at five in the bottom of the fifth inning, scoring four runs in the bottom of the third; Pruneda, senior Persayis Garza and Naraiah Guzman all drove in runs in the third inning, while Pruneda tied the game with an RBI single in the fifth.

Sedro-Woolley’s Reagan Evans gave the Cubs the lead for good with a go-ahead two-run home run in the top of the seventh, to which the Huskies were unable to answer.

The Cubs went on to win the 2A title, defeating No. 6 Tumwater in the championship game game 4-2.

“That was a very emotional loss for us, knowing that we should have had that win,” Martinez said. “As coaches, we were proud of them because other than the errors, they left it all on the field; they came from behind the entire time and battled through.”

Othello dropped to the consolation bracket with the loss but rallied with 4-0 and 6-2 wins over Enumclaw and Lynden in the second and third rounds. In the consolation semifinals, the Huskies matched up with North Kitsap, who they split an April 20 doubleheader with.

The Vikings quickly went up 7-0 through the first two innings, eventually winning the game 9-3. Martinez noted fatigue as a factor; Othello’s consolation game against Enumclaw didn’t begin until 8:30 p.m. Friday, while they had to be back at the ballpark at 6 a.m. Saturday to play Lynden.

“We had a couple baserunners, but just could not finish,” Martinez said. “We had some strikeouts that I feel we were kind of chasing and trying to get a hit, so we were chasing some pitches that were actually balls.”

With the loss, Othello’s season came to a close; the Huskies posted a 21-7 overall record this spring, winning regular season and district championships in the Central Washington Athletic Conference. Martinez said Othello’s district win gave the team a confidence boost heading into the state tournament.

“I think that gave the girls the realization of truly how good they were,” Martinez said. “I’d been telling them all season, that we should be in the top three for placing, and I don’t know that they truly understood how good they were. Making it to state was a big thing for everybody.”

The Huskies will have seven returners in 2025, including all-leaguers Franco, Pruneda, freshman Alexa Prochet and junior Kaelee Valdez.

“I would like them to take away that it doesn’t matter what your numbers look like as a team; you could be behind, you could have a ton of injuries, but it’s about how bad you want it for each other,” Martinez said. 

On the flip side, Othello will have six seniors graduate off of this year’s roster; Garza, Shelsie Garza, Faith Ruelas, Naraiah Guzman, Miccaela Valdez and Amarie Guzman, the CWAC’s Most Valuable Player.

“To be a part of their career in high school was special for me to see how much they’ve grown because I’ve seen them through their younger years in softball and how much they’ve grown in matured not just in the sport, but in life as well,” Martinez said. “They were a big part of this year’s team.”

This was Martinez’s first year at the helm of the Othello softball team, coming up from being the head coach of the McFarland Middle School softball team.

“It was a good ride, it was a good first year,” Martinez said. “I would say I’m pretty happy and pretty proud to say I left it all out there this year.”

Ian Bivona may be reached at ibivona@columbiabasinherald.com. 

Box scores

Othello vs Olympic
OTH: 1-0-0-1-1-1-2 6
OLY: 0-0-0-1-0-0-0 1

Othello vs Sedro-Woolley
SDR: 1-4-0-0-0-0-2 7
OTH: 0-0-4-0-1-0-0 5

Othello vs Enumclaw
ENM: 0-0-0-0-0-0-0 0
OTH: 0-0-0-1-2-1-X 4

Othello vs Lynden
LYN: 1-0-1-0-0-0-0 2
OTH: 2-0-1-2-1-1-X 7

Othello vs North Kitsap
OTH: 0-0-2-0-0-1-0 3
NRT: 4-3-1-1-0-0-X 9

    Othello senior Miccaela Valdez (4) makes contact with a pitch for a single in Friday’s 2A State Softball Tournament game against Olympic. Valdez went four-for-four at the plate in the 6-1 opening-round win.
  

    Othello senior Naraiah Guzman dashes toward first base after recording an RBI single during the top of the seventh inning against Olympic on Friday.
  

    Othello senior Persayis Garza, right, waits for a pitch during Othello’s quarterfinals game against Sedro-Woolley on Friday.