YAKIMA — No one said it was going to be easy.
Winning one state softball championship is difficult. Going back-to-back is harder. Having the opportunity to win three straight is rarified air in Washington State.
It had only been done three times prior to Saturday night. Colton won an astounding six straight in Class 1B from 2009-14, Connell took home three straight in 1A from 2011-13 and Kamiakin secured three straight in 3A from 2012-14.
Even with several chances by Morton early in the century and Toutle Lake twice in two decades, no 2B program was able to finish the job.
All it took was a bunch of multi-sport stars from Adna High School for history to be made.
For the first time ever in the classification, the third-seeded Pirates ended on top of the mountain for the third consecutive state tournament with a thrilling 10-6 victory over top-seeded Freeman at the Gateway Sports Complex.
“I don’t know if you could write it anymore perfectly,” Adna head coach Bruce Pocklington said. “We haven't played to our best and this weekend we played really well. We made plays, kept hitting and kept doing what we do.
“Today is a great day to be a Pirate.”
It’s the 12th state softball title in school history and for the four seniors of Karsyn Freeman, Gaby Guard, Kendall Humphrey and Danika Hallom, they end their prep careers with a state trophy together.
The shortcomings from volleyball and girls basketball led to tears of sadness. Saturday featured tears of joy.
“Three-peating is a cherry on top,” Hallom, the five-year starter and two-year backstop said while fighting through tears. “We did need to fight more. Every single game we got here, we chose to fight and it paid off.”
This version of Adna was vastly different from the last two trips to Yakima. It was pure domination in 2023 and 24, using a stout pitching staff and a fierce lineup that stoked fear into opposing pitchers.
It was younger in the circle with a sophomore and eighth grader in 2025. Hallom, Humphrey, Guard, Avery LaFontaine, Alyssa Carroll and Lena McCloskey all had at least 65 plate appearances a season ago.
Add in six losses that were the most post-COVID and a third place finish in districts didn’t make for a traditional group favored to win another championship.
None of it mattered.
“We’ve been working towards this all year and it feels as good as it can,” Guard said. “We knew it wasn't going to come easy. We weren’t favored and we had to work a lot harder.”
Pocklington called it one of his hardest coaching jobs “by far.”
“We had a lot of young pups and we had to keep coaching,” he added. “We were doing a lot of good things at the right time. So excited for the girls, they put the time in.”
Throughout the postseason, one of the in-game question marks was the Pirates (21-6) defense. They averaged the same amount of errors in eight playoff games to 19 regular season contests, just over two per game.
And LaFontaine, in her first year as the No. 1 starter, went through a bevy of ups and downs.
When the stage got bigger, they stepped up.
Two double plays in the title game versus Freeman kept the momentum on Adna’s side and it parlayed into scoring at least a run in every inning. Whenever the Scotties would cut into the deficit, the Pirates answered.
“I feel like I accomplished something, but I couldn't do it without my teammates backing me up,” LaFontaine said. “I’m so thankful for them. We kept pushing and I was like ‘Yes, this is what we wanted.’”
Alyssa Carroll continued her stellar offensive prowess with another home run, part of a three-hit, four-RBI day at the plate. Khloe Hunt went 3-for-4 with a pair of runs batted in. Hallom had two hits in her final game as a Pirate.
Freeman attempted a comeback with a three-run inside-the-park home run to make it 10-5 and an RBI single kept the rally alive. Hallom and LaFontaine had a meeting in the circle.
“I started crying because I knew we were going to pull it off,” Hallom said. “I told her to throw strikes and she trusts me. I love that.”
“Danika has been great,” LaFontaine added. “Throw right to me, we got it.”
A flyout to Freeman ended the game and sent the Pirates into an epic celebration. The Adna community proceeded to pour onto the field for pictures with the trophy, coaches and athletes.
“Everyone was on today,” Guard said. “Everyone fought really hard. We never got down on each other, which could have happened in the past.”
In the semifinal against Pe Ell/Willapa Valley, the Pirates rallied down 8-6 with a seven-run top of the sixth and all with two outs. Lena McCloskey drove in two on an error to put them up for good, then Guard and Hallom added insurance with RBI base hits.
Four different Adna hitters finished with the line of 1-for-4 with an RBI, run scored, walk and a strikeout. It jumped out to a 4-0 cushion and slowly chipped away once the Titans got out in front.
“Those younger kids, they look up to all of us,” Hallom said. “They wanted it for us.”
One of the bigger moves of the tournament was Pocklington pulling LaFontaine after two innings and going to eighth grade southpaw Teagan Baggenstos, who had only pitched the third place game in districts.
She proceeded to throw five innings of one-run ball and struck out four.
“It was a pretty bold move,” Pocklington said. “She threw out of this world. She’s our MVP of that game and maybe getting us to where we’re at right now.”
“She did such an amazing job,” LaFontaine added. “She took care of business.”
Talk about next season, or whatever comes next, doesn’t really interest Pocklington. He’s an in the moment type of person. Donning a white button down with the Pirate logo plastered on, he was soaking in the run this group went on.
There could have been an earlier three-peat had the pandemic not wiped out the 2020 and 2021 state tournaments for Adna.
Or maybe not. Maybe it was destined to happen in 2025.
“It (has been) an unbelievable experience,” Hallom said.
Still, Pocklington did offer up something regarding what 2026 could feature with a cast of sophomores expected to take charge.
“The kitchen ain’t empty, it really isn’t,” he said. “Our younger core coming up, it looks really good. We got some players.”
