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The Pe Ell/Willapa Valley softball team has been a staple at the state tournament in Yakima. Since 2017, the Trojans have won two state championships and have trophied in all but one state tournament.
In each of the last two seasons, they’ve reached the state semifinals, and they appear to be just as loaded for another deep run this spring.
Lauren Matlock is back after a Co-MVP 2025 season, one where she hit .621 with an on-base percentage of .653 while hitting five home runs, 12 doubles and seven triples.
Sophia Milanowski (.554 battling average, nine home runs) is also back, as is Jillian Hodel (.494 BA, five home runs), and they both earned spots on the Pacific 2B League’s first-team last spring.
Hodel also impressed in the circle, where she posted a 7-1 record and struck out 54 opposing hitters, and Eliza Barnum also earned a first-team nod by going 8-3 and racking up 107 strikeouts.
Titans baseball seeking to build toward ‘bright future’
Last season, the Pe Ell/Willapa Valley Titans lost in the district quarterfinals, but they still had two chances to get through to the state tournament. They lost both of those games to Napavine and Toutle Lake, ending their season without a state appearance.
While the 2026 Titans would love to get over the district hump, PWV coach Kent Smaciarz said that this season is more about the development of the younger returners and the hope of seeing flashes of a “bright future.”
Pacific 2B League MVP Liam Smaciarz is now at Linfield, and fellow 2025 seniors Brayden Russell and Kannyon Clements are also gone, but Ellie Clements and Mauricio Morales are back to lead the PWV lineup.
Clements hit .385 last spring and drove in 25 runs en route to earning a first-team P2BL spot, while Morales hit .386 and drove in 23 runs of his own.
Sophomore Liam Lennox posted an on-base percentage of .528 last season and should step into a bigger role, while Max Jarvis and eight-grader Kaeden Blain are also expected to take a leap forward.
If the younger Titans are able to develop and go on a postseason run, the Titans could make the state tournament for the first time since 2009.
