Aggressive hitting holds up early-season prediction as Liberty of Issaquah wins 3A softball crown

Patriots score all of their runs in first two innings, and that is enough in 6-4 state championship-game victory over Garfield - backing up first-year coach Joon Huh's preseason proclamation

Liberty of Issaquah captured its second WiAA title in softball with 6-4 victory over Garfield in Class 3A championship game Saturday in Lacey. / Photo by Todd Milles

LACEY, Wash.- Behind closed doors, in his inaugural address to the Liberty of Issaquah softball parent group after being promoted to a first-time coach, Joon Huh hit all the high notes.

And reached even higher on his season outlook: The hard-luck Patriots could win it all in 2025.

He was spot on.

Liberty's first 11 batters scored six runs, all on nine hits, and the sixth-seeded Patriots made it hold up for a 6-4 victory over Garfield in the championship game Saturday at the WIAA Class 3A championships.

It was Liberty's first WIAA softball championship in 32 seasons.

Adopting the same aggressive hitting philosophy from the club program in which he also coaches - the ai Bandits -Huh had his players swinging early and often, and they circled the bases at the Regional Athletic Complex as if they were riding a carousel.

"Doesn’t everyone want to be aggressive and find ways to manufacture runs?" Liberty catcher Emi Connell said.

"We did that perfectly the past two days."

Affter Garfield took a 1-0 lead on Jordana King's leadoff hone run to right field, Liberty pounced on Bulldogs starter Samantha Breckenridge, who was a big reason why the Bulldogs were even in the championship game.

Kaila Siu gives the thumbs-up on Liberty's performance in the Class 3A softball championships. / Photo by Todd Milles

Connell's two-out RBI double in the first inning tied the game, and Jelly Davies and Berlyn Crockett followed with run-scoring singles as the Patriots grabbed a 3-1 lead.

Three consecutive hits, including Isabella Rockey's RBI triple in the right-field corner, by Liberty to begin the second inning knocked Breckenridge out of the game. The Patriots increased their cushion to 6-1.

"We woke up today, and hey were as loose as I'd seen," Huh said. "So I knew we had a good chance today."

Staked to a big lead, Liberty ace pitcher Avery Huh stayed out of trouble until giving up another home run in the fifth inning, this time a two-run blast to Lissie Hogan to cut it to 6-3.

Given the fact the Bulldogs rallied late in the quarterfinals against No. 1 seed Stanwood, and the semifinals against No. 4 seed Sedro-Woolley, everyone knew they were capable of one more push.

And they did bring the tying runs to the plate in the final inning.

Kaitlyn Washington had an RBI groundout to make it 6-4, bringing Hogan up for a final chance to tie But the catcher grounded out to third base to end the game.

"We needed one more inning," Garfield coach Tyler Keys said.

And while the Patriots early schedule - and lopsided losses to 4A KingCo teams - took a toll, they ended the season 11-0 against 3A opponents, including their four-game sweep at the RAC.

"We fought through, and that helped us a lot," Connell said.

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