Mt. Hood Wins 2024 NWAC Softball Championship

After a hard-fought weekend of game-securing (game-clinching?) home runs and crucial strikeouts, the Mt. Hood softball team is the 2024 Northwest Athletic Conference (NWAC) champions – the Saints’ second title in three years.

This journey was by no means easy, with a few close games and, as expected, some large wins for the team.

The Saints’ playoff path started on Thursday, May 16, at Delta Park in north Portland. In their first game at 10 a.m., No. 2 tournament seed Mt. Hood faced Yakima Valley, which secured the No. 15 seed in the double-elimination playoff bracket. Given the comparison, this game was expected to be a sure victory for the Saints, and that it was.

Mt. Hood started this game with three runs in the first inning, followed by one run in the second inning and four more in the third. Going into the top of the fourth inning, the Saints led 8-0, but this didn’t stop Yakima Valley from giving it their all, securing two runs in the fourth and another run in the sixth inning.

The final was 8-3, with Mt. Hood earning its their first postseason win and moving on to their next game later that day, matched against Columbia Basin. This game started off slow, with both teams scoreless through three innings. Nonetheless, in the bottom of the fourth inning, Mt. Hood’s Jasmine Barela and Hope Burke both hit home runs, followed by Izzie Brauckmiller knocking in two more runs), giving the Saints a 4-0 lead – and the game was scoreless thereafter, giving Mt. Hood another win.

After sweeping both games on Thursday, the Saints were ready to take on Wenatchee Valley on Friday, which had won its two opening postseason games by an average margin of six runs. There wasn’t much action until the bottom of the third inning, where Mt. Hood scored two runs. This would be the last scoring inning for both teams, with Mt. Hood grabbing the 2-0 win and advancing to the tournament semifinal on Saturday.

In that match-up, Mt. Hood faced North Idaho College, which secured the No. 1 seed (and brought a 37-game win streak into the game) and was a true contender for handing the Saints their first loss of the postseason.

In the top of the second inning, Saints centerfielder Ava Carroll batted in Barela for the game’s first run. In the top of the fourth, MHCC still led 1-0 when Carroll struck again, hitting a three-run homer that pushed the lead to 4-0 and put the pressure on the Cardinals for a comeback.

North Idaho was able to score one run in the bottom of the fourth, and pushed two more runs across in the bottom of the sixth inning. Entering the final inning with a thin 4-3 lead, the Saints responded. Shortstop Gina Allen hit a clutch triple and scored on first-baseman Peyton Foreman’s base hit, making it 5-3. After another hit and with two outs, right fielder Brenna Wilson hit a three-run home run that sealed the contest for Mt. Hood.

The final score: 8-3, with Mt. Hood moving on to the championship game and North Idaho heading to the consolation bracket. But this would not be the last time MHCC faced off against North Idaho.

Immediately after their loss to Mt. Hood, the Cardinals won against Lower Columbia Saturday afternoon in the consolation round, 11-9, to gain another chance to beat the Saints on Sunday for the NWAC title.

THE CHAMPIONSHIP GAME

The championship game started at 11 a.m. on May 19, and the stands at Delta Park were full of friends and family excited to watch another game of highly competitive, action-packed softball. This game was big for both teams, but Mt. Hood knew that even if it dropped the contest, since it would be their first loss of the tournament they would get a second shot against North Idaho that afternoon to decide the NWAC softball championship winner.In the top of the first inning, the Cardinals struck first. With two outs, they scored one run on a passed ball, and then Mt. Hood pitcher Sara Martin, who played the first four innings, gave up a two-run home run to Kaylee Vieira, giving North Idaho a quick 3-0 lead.

Mt. Hood quickly fired back in the bottom of the first, with a three-run homer of its own from Jasmine Barela. knocking in Gina Allen and Madison Walker in front of her The next batter, Peyton Foreman smacked another home run, and the Saints ended the first inning with a 4-3 lead.

After two scoreless innings, Karli Kostoff knocked in two runs with a clutch, two-out single, scoring Faith Nichols and Emily Schulhauser. The Cardinals once again led, 5-4.

The Saints went out in order in the bottom of the fourth inning, and the pressure was mounting for them to score at least one run to tie the game. An inning later, Foreman did just that, hitting a two-out single and allowing Madison Walker to score, knotting the game at 5 runs each.

The Cardinals were scoreless in the sixth inning – Bella Carazo had taken over for Martin in the fifth inning and retired all six batters she faced –and then Mt. Hood made its winning push, scoring three times in the bottom of the sixth. With two outs, Ava Carroll and Kailee Davis were poised on second and third base, respectively. Walker, who had scored twice already in the game, hit a crucial home run to hand the Saints an 8-5 lead heading into the last inning of the game.

The Saints needed to keep the Cardinals to two runs to secure the victory, and North Idaho battled hard right to the end. After a base hit and two walks, the Cardinals had the bases loaded, with two outs, each runner ready to dash to home plate. On the game’s final play, Carazo got Kaylee Vieira to pop up an infield fly ball that would land in the glove of the shortstop, Allen, setting off a wild Saints celebration.

It secured Mt. Hood’s seventh NWAC softball championship title overall, their fourth since 2014 and their second title in the past three seasons under head Coach Brittany Hendrickson.

Photos by Andrew Hull

Andrew Hull

Editor-in-Chief