South Sound high school softball preview: Top teams, players in 2024

New year, same abundance of softball talent in the South Sound.

Here’s what to monitor, teams on the postseason radar, and players to watch in 2024.

4A SPSL

Top to bottom, it’s the toughest league in the state, Olympia coach Drew Wellner claims. Four SPSL programs punched tickets to the state tournament last spring, all with aspirations to return in 2024. Olympia recently opened the league slate with a statement – a dominant, 21-0 shutout of Curtis on March 18 behind the continued heroics of Bears ace Sami Potvin. She whiffed 255 with a 1.55 ERA (135 ⅓ IP) as a junior, posting a .305 average at the plate with 15 RBI. But she’s even better in ‘24, Wellner says: “Knowing hitters and getting more in their mind, what they might be thinking is coming. Using that to her advantage, hitting her spots, just fine-tuning her craft. Knowing the zone, and what hitters are looking for, and getting them to chase more balls out of the zone.” And if Sami is the ace pitcher, younger sister and freshman, Sydney, is the home-run-hitting fireworks show. Olympia’s new catcher has two moonshot homers in early competition: “She’s not just hitting home runs. She’s hitting home runs, and they’re no-doubters,” Wellner said. “They’re clearing the fence by about 30, 40 feet. She’s going to be fun.” Speedy junior P/OF Ava Bautista adds a “really good bat” and “great arm.” Bears shortstop Brooklyn Crass possesses the best arm on the team and makes difficult plays look easy: “Just a cannon,” Wellner said.

Puyallup hoisted the SPSL trophy in 2023 and are positioned for another run, with TNT All-Area third baseman and Colorado State commit Kyra Smith at the hot corner. She’s raking early, now 7-for-9 (3.152 OPS) with four homers and seven RBI in three games. Junior pitcher Kiera Thomas plated five runs in Puyallup’s season-opener, a 15-3 win over 2A-Fife on March 12, and owns a 1.11 ERA in four starts (four wins).

Rogers shortstop and TNT All-Area pick Raygun Klippert led the Rams into the 2023 state tournament, the leadoff hitter with a .554 batting average and 37 runs scored last year. Rams pitcher Keagan Norfleet (2-1) tossed a complete game in Rogers’ league-opener, an 8-7 win over Graham-Kapowsin on March 18. Emerald Ridge graduated SPSL MVP Izzy Quintanilla – but returns senior pitcher Alana Wirtala, who whiffed four in a complete-game, 5-4 win over South Kitsap in the Jaguars’ season opener. Emerald Ridge fell to Kentwood’s Sarah Wright in the state tournament via 1-0 shutout, but appears poised for another run with Wirtala and 1B Kailey Verhoeven.

4A NPSL

If any NPSL program wants to hoist a league trophy, it has to get by Kentwood’s Sarah Wright first.

The 2022 Gatorade Washington Softball Player of the Year and TNT All-Area Player of the Year, Wright hit the ground running in ‘23, propelling the Conquerors to an undefeated league title (6-0) and state semifinals appearance. The reigning NPSL Player of the Year was unstoppable on the state tournament’s opening day last May, posting consecutive complete-game shutouts over Emerald Ridge and Bothell. The Arizona commit struck out 230 batters (105 IP) with a 16-4 record and 0.53 ERA – and now, she’s back for a senior campaign. Wright debuted to the tune of 20 strikeouts in an eight-inning complete game (137 pitches) over Liberty on March 14 that Kentwood grabbed in extras.

Decatur ace Audrey Deviney should have the Gators in the league conversation – the reigning NPSL Pitcher of the Year has appeared in three early contests this season, whiffing 13 batters (40 BF) with a 1.56 ERA across nine total innings. TNT All-Area infielder pick Sina Fuiava is 4-for-6 with a home run and six RBI in early play, and shortstop Kahea Sharpe sports a team-high .700 on-base percentage (7-for-10).

“They were stacked,” Enumclaw coach Quinn Haney said of Decatur after the Gators handled the Hornets on March 15 in a non-league exhibition, 6-1. “I was super impressed with Decatur. Overall, bat-wise and pitching-wise, I thought they were super solid.”

An ascending Tahoma team in 2023 should be even better in ‘24: Junior OF Taryn Jones’ bat is scorching hot in the preseason, now 10-for-16 (1.622 OPS) with seven RBI and a homer. Reigning second-team catcher Kalani Higa sports a Tahoma-best 10 RBI in five games.

3A NPSL

Auburn Riverside soared to an undefeated league title last spring, the program’s third straight, and the Ravens return five reigning first-teamers in search of a fourth. Seniors Bailee Brader, Jossy Taylor, and Kaylee Walker help form the NPSL’s strongest infield, plus outfielders Lexi Vircks (senior) and Seneca Aarstad (junior).

It’s an intimidating one-through-five in the lineup, to say the least. In a 22-12 slugfest win over Newport (Bellevue) on March 14, Auburn Riverside first-teamers went wild: the leadoff-hitting Vircks went 2-for-3 with an RBI and two walks, Taylor went 2-for-4 with two RBI, and Walker drove in a game-high seven runs with two home runs. Aarstad was 4-for-5 with six RBI, and Brader added three hits and a run scored.

In the circle, Auburn Riverside returns NPSL second-team pitcher Danica Butler, who posted 13 wins last season and twirled a one-hit shutout in five innings over Cascade Christian on March 12.

Keep an eye on Auburn Mountainview, the reigning 3A NPSL runner-up (6-1) that returns Player of the Year Mia Heigh and first-teamer Brynna Erdmann. Lions infielder and Milwaukee Area Technical College commit Zoey Murph owns team-highs in batting average (.571), RBI (five), and OPS (2.013) through three games.

3A PCL

Bonney Lake’s box scores routinely look unreal. It’s still early, but through four games, five qualified hitters are slashing above .460/.520/1.100 – as if monster numbers are simply another day at the office. The Panthers graduated PCL player of the year Kyla Cross and first-team ace Bella Carazo, but head coach Kate Zender still rosters one of the South Sound’s most-feared lineups, scoring 56 runs in those four games. Bonney Lake danced to the state quarterfinals last year, and there’s little reason to expect a regression: “We’ve had that pace of getting deep,” Zender said. “New pitching this year, which is a big hole to fill… but they know what it takes to be up there. Goal number one, win the league. Goal number two, get to state, and see what happens.” Junior OF Lauryn Lee is mashing early competition, now 10-for-16 (.625 AVG) with 10 runs and five RBI. Reigning first-team infielder Laina Baker is slashing .385/.500/1.115 through four games, and Morgan Berg has a team-high six RBI. Stadium and Silas are contenders, too: the Tigers return a trio of PCL second-teamers (London Kim, Hayden McCabe, and Kylie Mick), and Silas gets back reigning PCL Pitcher of the Year Natalie Medalia, a TNT All-Area second-teamer.

3A SSC

Peninsula ace and TNT All-Area Player of the Year Alli Kimball lifted the Seahawks to the program’s first-ever 3A state title in 2023 with a one-run complete game and three-run homer in the championship. Now at Western Washington University, Kimball’s absence – and the departure of Gig Harbor shortstop and league-MVP Riley Peschek to the University of Montana – leaves this year’s SSC wide open. An always-competitive Yelm program toppled Peninsula in their March 19 league-opener, 12-9, powered by 3-for-4 performances from INF Elissa Dewees and OF Madisyn Erickson. The Seahawks get back first-team SSC outfielder Malia Coit, and Timberline returns Jasmyn Polanco, perhaps the league’s best pitcher – she twirled a complete-game shutout (2 H, 10 K) in the Blazers’ season-opener with Adna on March 18.

2A SPSL

Orting ace Kaylee Gresko’s overpowering senior season pushed the Cardinals to an SPSL title in 2023, but it was Enumclaw that danced to the 2A state semifinals. The Hornets have stumbled early in 2024: Enumclaw suffered two preseason losses and were no-hit by Franklin Pierce’s Emma Hoffmeister in their March 14 league-opener, 1-0. But the bats activated for a 21-2 rout over Steilacoom on March 19. “That was a huge turn for us, and a confidence booster,” Enumclaw coach Quinn Haney said, “because we’ve really been struggling at the plate the past couple of games. … We have strong pitching, (we’re) strong on the bases, and we put the ball where they’re not. Out of the gate with the three losses, we’re still of the mindset that we’re getting back (to state). They hadn’t been to state since I was a senior at Enumclaw (in 2016). They’re in that mindset now and they know they can do it. They’re in it to win it.” Enumclaw returns first-team OF Alyssa Harris, who went 3-for-3 with two RBI over Steilacoom, and second-team pitcher Alyssa Neal. Orting catcher Miken Jacobsen is challenging for league-MVP honors early with two home runs, eight RBI, and an eye-popping slash line (.588/.611/1.905) in five games, and will keep the Cardinals in contention. Fife, another contender, returns first-team pitcher Madison Walls.

2A EvCo

It should be an exciting race to the Evergreen Conference title in 2024. Aberdeen dashed to last season’s 2A state semifinals, now powered by pitching-duo Lilly Camp (junior) and Annika Hollingsworth (senior) which, in early ‘24, has combined for 12 innings of one-run ball with one walk to 32 strikeouts. And Hollingsworth’s bat is on fire: she owns team-bests in home runs (three), OPS (2.482), and slugging percentage (1.857) through two games.

Tumwater’s Ella Ferguson, last year’s EvCo MVP, is making another run for the award and will keep the T-Birds in title contention. The junior dual-threat owns a 1.69 ERA with 42 strikeouts (three walks) across four games and 20 ⅔ innings, adding a .417/.417/1.083 slash line and four RBI at the plate. Tumwater catcher Jaime Haase swatted three home runs in Tumwater’s first four games (1.692 OPS). W.F. West, meanwhile, returns a pair of EvCo first-teamers: INF Avalon Myers and OF Lena Fragner. Both homered in a 15-5 win over River Ridge on March 18.

30 PLAYERS TO WATCH

P Sarah Wright, Kentwood, sr.

P Sami Potvin, Olympia, sr.

P Ella Ferguson, Tumwater, jr.

P Emma Hoffmeister, Franklin Pierce, sr.

P Alyssa Harris, Enumclaw, jr.

P Natalie Medalia, Silas, soph.

P Jasmyn Polanco, Timberline, sr.

P Madison Walls, Fife, sr.

P Audrey Deviney, Decatur, jr.

P Kamdyn Hagerty, South Kitsap, sr.

P Kiera Thomas, Puyallup, jr.

P Ava Heitman, Thomas Jefferson, sr.

P/INF Brynna Erdmann, Auburn Mountainview, jr.

P/INF Elliotte Kajita, White River, jr.

P/INF Kailee Pearson, Cascade Christian, jr.

C Mia Heigh, Auburn Mountainview, jr.

C Miken Jacobsen, Orting, sr.

C/SS Savanna Newville, Lakes, soph.

C/SS Joy Wilde, Lincoln, jr.

C/OF Seneca Aarstad, Auburn Riverside, jr.

SS Raygun Klippert, Rogers, jr.

3B Kyra Smith, Puyallup, sr.

3B Kaylee Walker, Auburn Riverside, sr.

INF Sina Fuiava, Decatur, sr.

INF/P Daniel Biehl, Gig Harbor, jr.

INF/OF Elissa Dewees, Yelm, sr.

OF Malia Coit, Peninsula, sr.

OF Madisyn Erickson, Yelm, sr.

CF Alannah Martinez, Lakes, soph.

UTIL Riley McGee, Sumner, sr.

Tyler Wicke

The News Tribune

Tyler Wicke joined The News Tribune in 2019 as a sports clerk. A graduate of the University of Washington Tacoma in 2021, Wicke covers the Mariners, preps, and maintains clerical duties. Was once a near-scratch golfer, but now, he’s just happy to break 80.  Support my work with a digital subscription