3A State Softball: Lassies bid farewell to seniors after first-day exit

“Those were their positions and we really didn’t even realize it until a few games into the season,” Kelso coach Dean Sorensen said of the coincidental defensive alignment. “Ally (Hall) has been our first baseman three years and Sophia (Zbaeren) was our starting third baseman last year.”

Avery Jackson has played shortstop for the last two years and Courtney Davis has played second during that same span.

Though the chemistry the group has built transcends from the top of the order down to the bottom, it wasn’t enough to keep them from being eliminated from contention Friday. Kelso lost 3-2 to Edmonds-Woodway in their first game, before falling 7-1 against Gig Harbor in their season finale.

Fresh scars from the two losses — including the opener when the Lassies had runners on second and third in the final inning — didn’t stop Hall from giving what her teammates agreed was a perfect summation of their legacy at Kelso.

“I think we left the legacy that we’re all one and the same and we’re here to play for each other and not really for ourselves,” Hall said. “There’s no difference between the freshmen on this team and the seniors as far as companionship goes.”

Davis recalls being terrified of the seniors on Kelso’s team early in her freshman season, and the group didn’t want that to continue. They sought to remove internal cliques and create a welcoming environment. Perhaps one byproduct was a perfect league record — the Lassies finished 10-0 in the Greater St. Helens League 3A this year — but the more important result is that the memories are more likely to be cherished.

Part of that started with Nariah Morgan, who is now playing for Centralia College and graduated with the Kelso class of 2016, the girls said.

“She was the leader and we were all good friends,” Hall said. “So when she left, we kind of picked up where she left off. So it’ll be nice that for years to come, Kelso softball won’t be divisive in that. There won’t be cliques. There’s good chemistry on this team.”

Kelso’s run toward a state title ended on a heads-up play from Edmonds-Woodway’s catcher, who threw out the tying run after she slipped heading back to third base.

The Lassies put together a run in the bottom of the seventh, after Jordyn Ragan got them on the board with a sixth-inning solo home run. That seemed to rattle Edmonds-Woodway, and the Lassies took advantage in the final frame. Jayda Speed doubled, and scored when Jackson singled two batters later.

Ragan singled and got to second on a passed ball. A pinch runner (Alexis Neely, include or not) took over at third, an effort to add speed to the basepaths. But she slipped after EW’s catcher popped up and threatened a throw to third, later making the throw and the final out.

Gig Harbor opened up a big lead early in the loser-out contest and the Lassies could never recover. 

The Lassies bring back another solid group of seniors along with a group of sophomores, who have proven worthy ninth-graders this year.

“The competitiveness, the leadership and how the other teammates look up to them,” Sorensen said of watching the seniors grow and how they’ve impacted the team. “And not just on the field, but in the classroom, in the hallway. They showed a lot of leadership. And I’m proud of every one of them. Going to miss the heck out of them.”