YAKIMA — The Mossyrock softball team played all the way through the consolation bracket at Gateway Sports Complex on Saturday, beating DeSales 8-5 in a must-win game before moving on and out-slugging Almira-Coulee-Hartline 17-12 to take third in state.
It’s the Vikings’ first trophy at State of any kind since 2011.
Hailey Brooks led the way at the plate one last time, setting the tone with a home run to lead off the top of the first inning against DeSales and only going on from there. With the Vikings down 5-1 going into the fifth, Brooks got things started with a leadoff infield single, and the line just kept moving, with six runs coming home to flip Mossyrock’s fate on its head.
Brooks finished the first game 3 for 4, coming a double shy of the cycle. The Vikings’ lone senior got that double in the game against ACH, when she went 2 for 2 before the Warriors — somewhat fittingly — ended her hitting career at Mossyrock with one last intentional walk.
That second game featured just three scoreless frames, but Mossyrock’s Erin Cournyer notched two of them to ACH’s one. The Viking hurler tossed every inning of the day and bolted things down when it mattered, putting up three zeroes against DeSales after Mossyrock took the lead and holding onto a five-run cushion against ACH.
The Vikings got that cushion thanks to a six-run sixth inning, which turned a one-run deficit into a healthy lead. That was their fourth crooked number of the game.
Chesney Schultz went 4 for 5 with a double, a triple, and three runs scored for the Vikings. Cournyer added three hits to her day in the circle, while Annika Ball went 3 for 4 with a double at the bottom of the lineup.
