Little hits add up to big runs as Woodinville tops Puyallup, 3-0, to win 4A softball championship

As big hits go, the two that decided the State Class 4A softball championship Saturday at the Dwight Merkel Sports Complex travelled, maybe, 66 feet combined.

But they counted big on the scoreboard.

Woodinville High School, on the strength of the those hits, capped an undefeated season by capturing the state title, beating Puyallup, 3-0.

Puyallup coach Anthony Batinovich said a game like this is tough to lose.

“It’s the kind of game where you just have to tip your cap to them and move on,” he said. “Their pitcher was fantastic and she did a great job of getting us out.”

Woodinville scored the winning run in the top of the sixth inning on a squeeze bunt by Bailey Burger-Moore that died in the dust a foot in front of home plate, allowing courtesy runner Sierra Hein to slide head-first to break open a scoreless pitcher’s duel.

An out later Gina Wyner blooped a single over a drawn-in Puyallup first baseman to score two runs, the ball landing just past the first-base bag.

“I don’t think everything has completely sunk in yet,” Woodinville coach Dani Weir said. “But definitely it has a little bit. This was a game about stringing some things together and getting some clutch, timely plays.

“I mean, for Bailey to lay down that bunt and then score two runs on that little dinky hit – and it was just a dinky little hit.”

Senior Taylor Rhinehart of Woodinville and Puyallup senior Kennedy Robillard each pitched masterful games, working out of trouble by using an assortment of pitches and speeds.

Rhinehart allowed just two hits, walked two and hit a batter in the seventh inning, striking out 10.

Robillard scattered nine hits and the Falcons got their lead-off hitter on base in six of the seven innings. But she struck out six and got stellar defense behind her.

Center fielder Destiny Conerly robbed Burger-Moore of a home run in the seventh inning, running through the outfield fence to make the catch.

Rhinehart appeared loose and in control through all four games, and that attitude, she said, was key.

“We just go play any game like its another game,” she said. “That’s how we’ve approached this whole season. We may have been a little more nervous on the inside, but we don’t want that to show.”

Puyallup finishes its season 22-4 and with a second-place trophy. Batinovich acknowledged the achievement of Woodinville going 26-0.

“That’s a heckuva team and it’s an incredibly difficult accomplishment, going undefeated,” he said. “I know. We were 27-0 coming into the semifinals last year and we couldn’t finish it.”

Puyallup lost a heartbreaking, 1-0 decision to eventual state champion Snohomish in last year’s semifinals, then was knocked out of the tournament a game short of a trophy by Richland.

“There’s a little bit of redemption,” Weir said. “Puyallup beat us in the semifinals of this group’s freshman year. Now to get this win kind of makes up for that.”

The win puts a perfect button on Rhinehart’s career.

“This absolutely does,” she said. “To finish our career together like this is just perfect.”

Monroe knocked off Camas, 8-5, to earn the third-place trophy. The Papermakers finished fourth.

“To look over there and see those two teams laying for third and fourth, that says something about what we’ve accomplished,” Weir said. “We beat both of those teams to get here.”

This story was originally published May 27, 2017 at 5:59 PM with the headline "Little hits add up to big runs as Woodinville tops Puyallup, 3-0, to win 4A softball championship."