Longest championship game in 3A softball history worth the wait for first-time winner Bonney Lake

Three hours.

Thirteen innings — and five of them played under international tie-breaker rules.

According to Washington Interscholastic Activities Association records, only two Class 3A softball championship games had ever gone into extra innings, both ending after eight.

But that wasn't long enough for Bonney Lake High School against Snohomish on Saturday at the Regional Athletic Complex in Lacey.

The two teams ended regulation play with one run apiece, then matched each other blow-for-blow until Bonney Lake broke the game open in the top of the 13th inning, and held on to win their its state softball state title, 8-5, over Snohomish.

“Snohomish made some unbelievable plays. I don’t know how as a fan you could ask for a better game,” said a tearful Bonney Lake coach Andrew Sage. “That’s a classic. It’s unfortunate one team had to lose, but we just executed a little better at the end.”

The international tie-breaker puts a runner at second base to start each inning from the ninth on.

Using similar strategies of having the first batter bunt the free runner over, both Snohomish (25-2) and Bonney Lake (26-2) scored one run in the ninth, 10th and 12th, while failing to score in the 11th.

In the 13th, though, a tactic Snohomish had used throughout the game failed to produce results.

Four times, coach Lou Kennedy ordered University of Washington commit Brooke Nelson — who had homered in each of Bonney Lake’s first three tournament games — walked intentionally.

This time, with Raelyn Kimmel already at second based and Nelson going to first on the walk, Bonney Lake got production from a pair of freshmen to take what proved an insurmountable lead.

Nelson’s sister Brynn ripped the first pitch she saw into the left centerfield gap, scoring Kimmel and sending Brooke to third.

“It was smart to walk Brooke, I would have done the same thing,” Sage said. “The beautiful thing is Brynn stepped up right behind her and made them pay."

“Even though they walked Brooke I knew I could still execute to help us win,” said Brynn Nelson, who got hits with her sister already on base three times during the tournament.

With a base empty, Snohomish intentionally walked Anna Hook to set up a force play at the plate, but a wild pitch allowed Brooke Nelson to score and give Bonney Lake the first two-run lead either team had during the game.

Two outs followed and Snohomish needed only retire freshman Desiree Solberg, who got just six at-bats during the regular season.

“When I went up to bat I was thinking, ‘Wouldn’t it be cool if I got a big hit here?’” Solberg said.

She did, driving a hard single through the shortstop hole to put Bonney Lake up 8-4.

“She got hot late, so we decided to give her opportunities during the postseason. She’s really delivered,” Sage said. “It’s one of those magical stories.”

Snohomish didn’t go quietly, picking up a run in the bottom half of the 13th, but it wasn’t nearly enough to keep the Bonney Lake celebration — marked equally by broad smiles and overwhelmed sobs — from happening.

Ironically, though Snohomish sent Brooke Nelson to first base with a wave of the hand four times, it was a walk she gained off four pitched balls that gave Bonney Lake its first lead.

She walked to lead off the fourth inning, advanced to second on a passed ball and scored on the first of Brynn Nelson's four singles.

A two-out Snohomish rally tied the game in the fifth when Ruby Sugayan singled and later scored on a double by Izzy Hansen.

Brooke Nelson said she wasn’t bothered by having the bat taken out of her hands on five of her six trips to the plate.

“I don’t know if it was frustrating, I saw it as an opportunity to get a base runner for our team,” she said.

She also more than made up for being removed from Bonney Lake’s offense with a gutty complete-game pitching performance, matching an outstanding outing by Snohomish's Bailey Greenlee — who a day earlier had pitched a perfect game against Kelso.

Nelson struck out three straight batters to end a first-and-second threat with nobody out in the seventh, and later worked out of a bases-loaded jam in the eleventh.

“We just stayed focused and didn’t let the situation get in our heads cause it’s tough once you do,” she said. “Really, we had nothing to lose, we’re in the state championship game fighting for No. 1 or 2 in the state.

"That’s an incredible accomplishment on its own.”

It was also a feat they very nearly didn’t get a chance at.

In their early-morning semifinal, the Panthers trailed Mount Spokane, 2-1, heading into the bottom of the seventh.

But again, the sister act and a Wildcats blunder sent Bonney Lake into the championship game.

Brooke Nelson led off with a looping single to center and quickly reached second on a passed ball.

Brynn Nelson followed with a single down the left-field line to score her, and came home herself moments later on a throwing error by Mount Spokane that ended a 3-2 Panthers victory.

Yelm 6, Redmond 5: The Tornados finally got the best of defending 3A champion Redmond, defeating the Mustangs, 6-5, for third place Saturday at the RAC.

Yelm (30-3) lost to Redmond in last year's 3A title game, and again in the opening round of this year's tournament.

“We came out and hit the ball today,” Yelm coach Lindsay Walton said. “We did not do that the first time (in a 3-0 opening-round loss).”

Yelm put together a two-out scoring spree against Redmond ace Kiki Milloy in the seventh inning to give itself a much-needed cushion.

With two runners on, Sage Ferrell laced a two-run double in the left-center gap to give the Tornados a 6-3 lead.

“Sage had an incredible weekend,” Walton said. “She was probably our MVP.”

Yelm needed every one of those runs, too, as the Mustangs scored twice and loaded the bases in their final at-bat before Drea Schwaier struck out pinch hitter Lindsay Tsujikawa to end the game.

Schwaier, a Whitworth commit, gave up 12 hits in her complete-game effort, striking out eight.

Yelm's 3A South Sound Conference rival, Gig Harbor, also played through the final day of the season, but fell just short of taking home hardware.

The Tides (20-10) were eliminated Saturday morning in a 7-4 loss to Redmond.

CLASS 4A

Newport of Bellevue 10, Puyallup 2: Vikings coach Tony Batinovich knew the way the 4A softball bracket set up, it could be a stressful weekend.

And it was for a Puyallup (25-3) squad that had its sights on a state title.

After losing to eventual champion Jackson in the state quarterfinals Friday, the Vikings came back Saturday morning and lost to Newport of Bellevue in an elimination game at Merkel Sports Complex in Spokane.

A year after making the 4A finals, the Vikings, who came in on a roll after winning the 4A West Central/Southwest bidistrict title, did not place in these state championships.

“Today, we picked a bad time not to show up and play,” Batinovich said.

Lexsi Barashkoff hit two home runs as the Knights built a 9-2 lead. Puyallup committed four errors.

After the tournament, Batinovich said his district did the Vikings no favors being placed in the tougher top half of the tournament draw.

“It set up rough for a few teams,” he said. “I felt bad for the kids. But you’ve got to beat good teams anyway.”

No South Sound teams took home trophies in the 4A tournament this year.

Auburn Riverside (19-10) was the only other local to play into the second day, and was eliminated by Richland in a 15-3 loss Saturday morning.

Staff writer Lauren Smith contributed to this report.

This story was originally published May 27, 2018 at 5:02 AM with the headline "Longest championship game in 3A softball history worth the wait for first-time winner Bonney Lake."