This weekend in Yakima, state champions for slowpitch softball will be crowned for the seventh time since the sport was introduced by the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association as a fall season sport.
From 1979 to 1991, slowpitch softball was the only form of softball sanctioned for state championships by the WIAA.
The first fastpitch softball championship was held in 1992. From that date, the number of schools still playing slowpitch slowly evaporated until slowpitch was unsanctioned by the WIAA in 2002.
About a decade ago, schools from the Greater St. Helens League began to play slowpitch again as a fall sport. They were followed by schools in the eastern part of the state.
In 2017, four GSHL schools (Skyview, Camas, Heritage and R.A. Long) met with four schools from the Spokane area (Mead, Ferris, Central Valley and University) in an unofficial state tournament in Richland. The Spokane schools swept the GSHL teams in the first round, with Mead claiming the title over Central Valley and University taking third-place over Ferris.
In 2018, the WIAA sanctioned the fall slowpitch softball state tournament for the first time. And since that time, teams from Southwest Washington have been trying to close the gap on eastside teams.
Mount Spokane beat University in that 2018 state title game in an all-classification bracket.
In 2019, the tournaments were split into a 4A bracket and 3A/2A bracket.
Central Valley from the Spokane area won the 2019 4A title and was runner-up in 2021 and 2022 — there was no 2020 tournament because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Chiawana of Pasco has won the last three 4A state titles.
Union has twice reached the 4A title game, losing to Central Valley 18-1 in 2019 and to Chiawana 21-0 last fall.
This weekend, Skyview will carry the mantle for the 4A GSHL at state. The Storm are making their second consecutive trip to the state tournament.
The Storm, the No. 2 seed in the bracket, will open against No. 7 Mead of Spokane at 10 a.m. Friday at the Gateway Sports Complex in Yakima. The good news for Skyview is that three-time defending state champion and No. 1 seed Chiawana is on the opposite side of the bracket.
Last season, Union advanced to the state title game, beating Skyview in the process. That was Union’s fourth win over Skyview last season.
This season, Skyview turned the tables on the Titans, winning all four meetings to gain the state berth.
Now, the Storm believe this is their season to shine.
“There wasn’t very many seniors last year,” Skyview senior Kenzie Lakin said. “But now there are so many seniors this year that’s it’s like we were all so ready to go. It’s our time.”
In the 3A/2A tournament, the eastside teams have also dominated.
Mount Spokane won state titles in 2019 and 2023 and took home the third-place trophy in 2021 and 2022.
University of Spokane won the title in 2021 and 2022 and was the runner-up last fall.
Locally, R.A. Long lost the third-place game to Rogers of Spokane 14-4 in 2019, Kelso lost the title game to University 26-11 in 2021 and Columbia River lost the third-place game to Walla Walla last fall 31-8.
The Rapids, fresh off their second consecutive 3A/2A district championship, hope to grow from their experience last year.
“This year, I think we’re going to come into it a lot more ready,” River senior Brooklynn Vickery said. “We’re going to have a lot better attitude. We’re going to give what we can and go as far as we can.”
But most of all, they are going to have fun — because that’s what slowpitch softball is all about.
“I just think it’s just so much fun,” Vickery said. “You come out here, and you’re ready to have fun. It’s obviously competitive, but it just makes the game more fun. And I think the girls (on the team) just make for a great environment.”
The vibe is the same over at Skyview.
“It’s a really good team,” Skyview junior Taylor Lies said. “All of us I feel are close friends. We’ve been on this team, some for three (years), some since we were freshmen. We’ve like all known each other and are close.”
