Northwest Futures Fastpitch League athletes meet AUSL stars at Husky Stadium

Parker and Rylleigh Zbaraschuk, co-owners of The Yard PNW in Lewis County, continue to deliver on their promise to provide opportunities for fastpitch athletes of all ages.

Nine members of their futures league, Northwest Futures Fastpitch League (NWFFL), took the field at the University of Washington’s softball stadium for an Athletes United Softball League matchup between the Blaze and the Volts Sunday afternoon. The game’s theme was Little League Day, as numerous fastpitch teams from around the Pacific Northwest took part in a pregame parade.

NWFFL athletes even had the opportunity to high five players from both teams as they were introduced out of the dugout before the nationally-televised contest, which saw the Blaze knock off the Volts 10-2 in front of a sold-out crowd. Sullivan Zbaraschuk, the Zbaraschuks’ infant daughter, even threw out the ceremonial first pitch. Professional athletes took photographs and signed autographs with starstruck NWFFL athletes, who remarked to their coaches and parents that they enjoyed getting autographs from female athletes, including former UW stars Sis Bates and Baylee Klingler.

“The coolest part was getting to see professional softball through the lens of the little kids because professional softball is still such a new idea in our world. It carries that magic, and seeing them get to experience the magic is so cool,” Parker Zbaraschuk said. “The other huge part for us was being surrounded by softball royalty. In the stands, in the dugouts, in the press box, there was so much softball history around.”

The Zbaraschuks used the opportunity not only to expose the young athletes to female professional softball players but to also network their league, which was announced in January and launched this past spring. Parker said the league has already received a significant amount of support, and Sunday’s event took it to another level.

“The coaches and some of those historical softball people were like, ‘Oh my gosh, let’s do it. Do we do a camp at UW? How can we get female athletes to come and support your league? How can we get involved? Can we help fundraise for you?’” she said. “The kids of our community, they have people jumping up to want to help them who are from all over the country. We have the support of the entire country in Lewis County.”

The Zbaraschuks are continuing to make strides toward establishing a dedicated fastpitch facility in Lewis County. Parker said the team has had conversations with an architect and a landowner.

“I think that the next big step is that big fundraising component and also the awareness of what we’re doing. Things like this only help gain traction,” she said. “It would be incredible if what we build is female founded, but it would be even more incredible if it was female funded.”

Parker believes that out of her softball family history, which includes her father and current Adna head coach Bruce Pocklington, Sullivan is the first to throw out a ceremonial first pitch, and she threw a strike to Volts pitcher Payton Gottshall with her family on the field and in the stands.

“We had so much fun preparing her for it. We’ve been practicing in the front yard for the last week,” Parker Zbaraschuk said. “We weren’t sure if it was going to be an overhand or underhand throw. She just kept telling us she was going to put mustard on it.”

To learn more about the NWFFL, visit https://nwfuturesfastpitchleague.com/.