Local Fastpitch Teams Get Ready For Long Awaited State Tournament

In 2020, during the second week of March, I made my way out to softball practice at Lynden, Nooksack Valley and Mount Baker. Little did I know, or anyone else at that time, was that it was the last week of softball for the season. The pandemic had just begun, and the entire spring season was shut down.

There was an abbreviated softball season in 2021, but no postseason.

Now, here we are in late May of 2022, and we are all settling back into our comfort zones, which means that softball players, coaches, parents and fans, are ready to head over to Eastern Washington to see the final tournament of the season… the state tournament.

“We are really excited to go to state,” said Lynden coach Ed Bomber. “Even to get a partial season last year was great, but this group of girls have been playing together for a while now, and have played in about 50 games in the last 14 months. They have played great, and now we get to test ourselves against the really elite teams.”

The Lions won their district tournament last weekend and were rewarded with the number-3 seed at the 2A state tournament in Selah.

“A 3-seed is very kind for us, I hope we show that we earned that.” Bomber said with a grin. “Rochester being a 14-seed is unbelievable, they’d be right at the top of our league, fighting it out with the rest of us.”

Not much is known about the Warriors out of Rochester, but the Lynden players know that making it this far means a lot.

“There’s going to be better players, better pitching and better competition, the deeper you play into the season,” senior centerfielder Ashlyn Alexander said. “I’m just excited that we’re still playing, and I’m excited for my teammates to be able to experience it with.”

The two teams will battle in the first round at 10:00 AM on Friday.

Alexander has been a force at the plate all season for the Lions, and she has already established a new school record for homeruns in a season with 10. However, it hasn’t just been Alexander’s bat that has impressed in the lineup, it’s been a total team effort.

“It’s been pretty evident that we’re a hitting team,” she said. “We’ve put a lot of time into it, and it shows 1 through 9 in our lineup.”

Alexander is absolutely right, as Lynden has totaled 39 doubles, 26 homeruns and is hitting .395 as a team.

The Pioneers of Nooksack Valley also won their district championship last weekend, and are heading into the 1A State Tournament sporting an amazing 23-1 record. Their only blemish all year came against the Lions in game one of the season in which Lynden won 8-5.

Since that game, Nooksack Valley has put it all together, and has gotten tremendous pitching from Jordyn Relethford. The senior has racked up 226 strikeouts over 130 innings, while walking just 23 batters and sporting a miniscule 0.81 ERA.

It hasn’t all been about Relethford in the circle for the Pioneers, though, as she also carries a .582 batting average into the state tournament with 17 extra-base hits, including four homeruns as well as 51 runs batted in. Senior centerfielder Jayden Loreen has also been a sparkplug at the top of the lineup all season long. She gets on base nearly 60% of the time, and her speed, coupled with the talented hitters behind her in the lineup (America Oettel and Sierra Anderson), has allowed her to cross home plate 48 times.

The wonderful season put forth so far by Nooksack Valley awarded the Pioneers the number-2 seed at state, which allowed for a first-round bye in the state playoffs. The Pioneers will play their first game on Friday at 2:30 against the winner of the Cashmere/Hoquiam game.

One big change in the 1A bracket this season was that only 12 teams will participate in the state tournament, because not enough 1A schools around the state have a softball team to speak of, which would have allowed the usual 16 teams in the state bracket. As if making the state tournament wasn’t already special enough, it was extra special this year for the Mountaineers, who had to win three games in a row last Saturday at the district tournament to capture the elusive second-place finish.

After all that hard work on Saturday, it makes it even sweeter for players like Mountaineer senior Ashlynn Cloninger who played catcher and batted leadoff three years ago at the state tournament.

“It was amazing to go to state freshman year, and after two years of not even having the option of going back to state, I’m so excited,” said Cloninger, who now bats third and plays short stop. “The charisma we have on our team is amazing. We all get along great, it’s like a family. We bond so well, and we communicate, which is probably why we came back last Saturday and won all those games.”

Cloninger has had a huge season for the Mountaineers, batting .593 with 15 doubles, two homeruns, 49 runs batted in, 15 stolen bases while striking out just three times.

It was another strong year for Baker, which won 14 games in a row to start the season, but went 6-5 down the stretch (including the three wins on Saturday). Coach Ron Lepper was still in high spirits, though, as he reflected on the season as a whole.

“We’ve had a really good year,” said Lepper. “We got off to a really good start, and the way the schedule was, we had to play some of the tougher teams later in the season. With the exception of the Nooksack game, we were in all those games.”

The Mounties, much like Lynden, has relied on a pair of pitchers instead of having that one ace in the circle game after game.

“We don’t have that one dominant pitcher that can strike out 15-20 girls a game,” Coach Lepper said. “They (pitchers Kaitlyn Rosenburg and Ava Jeretzky) understand that they might have to go back and forth, and we have to do what’s best for the team. We don’t expect them to strike out everyone, but if they pitch to contact, our defense will be there to make plays.”

So far, both pitchers have faired well. Rosenburg has a 12-2 record with a 2.60 ERA and Jeretzky isn’t far behind with an 8-3 record, one save and a 3.90 ERA. Both pitchers also know that there is still work to be done.

“We can always get better as a team,” Jeretzky said. “But, the LC game was one of our best games.”

The sophomore pitcher referred to the 15-0 win over the Lyncs that gave Mount Baker the final state berth.

Going across the mountains will not be a new thing this season for Mount Baker, as Coach Lepper took his 20-5 squad to Cashmere seven weeks ago to play three games in two days.

“That’s one thing that we try to do, especially when we get some new girls on the team,” Lepper said. “It’s to understand the overnight trip and how we do things. Sometimes they can get all excited about staying in a hotel, and then they learn that it’s a business trip. They all understand that now, and once we get going over there they’ll be fine.”

Mount Baker was able to capture the number-6 seed and will face off against Klahowya at noon on Friday in a loser-out game. The winner will then face numer-3 seeded College Place at 2:30.

And, who wouldn’t want to follow Coach Lepper into a state tournament? His winning mentality in every sport he coaches speaks for itself, and his players enjoy playing for him.

“I love him, he’s amazing!” senior Taite Reardon said. “He’s like a father to all of us. He wants things to get done the way he needs them to be done. He makes it clear to everyone on the team just how important every single person is, and that relationship is fundamental to our program, just knowing how much you are cared for and appreciated.”

Rosenburg echoed the same sentiments about her coach, who is now in his 18th season as the Mount Baker head softball coach.

“Oh, I love him. He’s a great coach, definitely the best coach I’ve had,” she said. “He’s always there for all of us, not just certain individuals, he’s there for all of us. He has really helped me get out of my own head, and I appreciate that.”

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