It was a tough call.
So many excellent softball players this season. Statistically, it was almost a draw among the best of the best.
When this happens, we hope someone — anyone — can put together a postseason that just demands attention. The all-league voting is, after all, just for league play. We get the luxury of including the entire season, and we can place a stronger emphasis with what happens in the playoffs.
Madison Anthony happened in the 2011 playoffs. A sophomore from Skyview, Anthony hit the seventh-inning home run to tie a game that Skyview eventually won to qualify for state.
Then, in Spokane for the Class 4A state tournament, Anthony batted .600 in five games, drove in six runs and scored seven times, leading the Storm to a fourth-place trophy.
With that finish, Anthony became our pick for the All-Region softball player of the year.
It was not just the last two weeks. She led the 4A Greater St. Helens League with a batting average higher than .600, and the Storm won the league title — a year after finishing 4-6 in league play. Anthony ended up with six home runs. She also drove in 29 runs in 27 games, a particularly high number for a lead-off hitter.
“It was really fun, actually winning, showing our school,” said Anthony, noting that Skyview is known for being strong in a lot of sports but not in softball in recent years. “It was good to show softball is a part of it, too.”
Anthony grew up in Las Vegas, learned the game from her parents — Charles and Kim Anthony, both Division I athletes themselves.
Kim Anthony, then Kim Smith, played softball for Columbia River High School in the 1980s and then played at UNLV. The family moved to Vancouver when Charles became the head football coach at Evergreen in 2009.
Madison Anthony’s freshman season did not go as well as she had hoped, with the team struggling to find wins.
One year later, Skyview was one of the best in the state.
With Anthony leading the way.
