WIAA 3A softball tournament: Quarterfinal updates, highlights and top performers from Lacey

Top three seeds in tournament - No. 1 Stanwood, No. 2 Mount Spokane and No. 3 Enumclaw - were eliminated from championship bracket on Day 1

Junior Avery Huh got the pitching win, striking out 17, and she socked a two-run home run in Liberty of Issaquah's 6-0 win over Enumclaw in Class 3A quarterfinals in Lacey. / Photo by Todd Milles

LACEY, Wash.- Still don't believe this week's Class 3A softball championships are a wide-open tournament?

Well, the tournament's top seeds - Stanwood, Mount Spokane and Enumclaw - will be watching somebody else playing for the WIAA championship Saturday.

The marquee showdown in the state quarterfinals Friday was sixth-seeded Liberty of Issaquah blanking No. 3 Enumclaw, 6-0, at the Regional Athletic Complex.

Junior Avery Huh, a Saint Mary's commit, was a one-person wrecking crew for the Patriots - a complete-game two-hitters, striking out 17 batters. She also blasted a two-out, two-run home run to left field in the third inning to give Liberty a 3-0 lead.

Which was more than enough run support for the team's workhorse, who thew an insane amount of pitches - nearly 400 - last weekend in leading the Patriots to the District 2 championship.

"She obviously works out ... and the other thing is her mechanics have gotten better," said Patriots' first-year coach Joon Huh, who is also Avery's father. "She has risen to the occasion."

Liberty grabbed a 1-0 lead against Enumclaw ace Alyssa Harris in the first inning on Isabella Rockey's RBI bunt single.

Two innings later, Avery Huh came up for second at-bat with Rockey on second base.

After fouling a couple pitches off, it was obvious Huh was finding a better groove against Harris. And on the next pitch, she clobbered a long home run over the left-field fence for a 3-0 Liberty lead.

"The more pitches I can see, the better, right?" Huh said. "I was constantly getting my timing, (trying to hit) a line drive, which is what I was hoping for.

"If it goes over, it goes over."

Now, the Patriots are the second-highest remaining seed behind No. 4 Sedro-Woolley. They play 10th-seeded Snohomish in the state semifinals Saturday at 10 a.m.

"We felt we've been playing on house money all week," Joon Huh said. "We loved our (seeding) spot."

GARFIELD 5. STANWOOD 4

The Bulldogs edged Stanwood on the first day of last year's WIAA tournament by one run - and did the same thing Friday with a comeback to knock off the top seeds.

Trailing 4-2 in the sixth inning, Garfield rallied for three runs - highlighted by Jordana King's two-run double to tie the game.

Kaitlyn Washington followed with the game-winning RBI single to second base - making a winner out of pitcher Samantha Breckenridge, who gave up three earned runs on five hits while striking out 14 batters.

"Crazy game," Breckenridge said. "We have such great chemistry as a team, and we were able to pull it together."

The Bulldogs are in the state semifinals in back-to-back seasons, and will play Sedro-Woolley on Saturday at 10 a.m.

SNOHOMISH 1. INGLEMOOR 0 (8)

Even this year as the No. 10 seed, the Panthers are one more win away from playing in their third consecutive WIAA championship game.

In a matchup of double-digit seeds, Snohomish pushed the winning run across when Jordyn Smith scored from third base on a passed ball.

Smith led off the eighth inning with a double, and took third on Amelie Lopez's sacrifice bunt. After Abby Edwards was intentionally walked to put two runners on, Inglemoor ninth grader Malin Homes' outside pitch to Hannah Siegler bounced off the glove of the catcher and scooted toward the backstop.

Alertly, Smith broke for home plate as soon as the ball got away, and scored easily.

SEDRO-WOOLLEY 10. MONROE 0

The Cubs tallied eight runs in the fourth inning to cruise to the state semifinals.

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