There aren’t many seniors who get to wrap up their high school career as the ace pitcher on a state championship team.
Around here, however, there’s two of them — and, appropriately, they shared The Chronicle’s 2017 All-Area Softball MVP award.
W.F. West’s Lexie Strasser and Pe Ell-Willapa Valley’s Dakota Brooks both went out on top this spring, hoisting their respective gold glove trophies just a few hours and a few miles apart.
Strasser, who will pitch for Central Washington University next season, was in a starring role for the Bearcats all season. The 6-foot-2 righthander went 16-1 in the circle, with a 0.54 ERA — giving up eight earned runs all season — and 112 strikeouts against 21 walks, holding her opponents to a .136 batting average. At the dish, meanwhile, she hit .366 with four homers and 22 RBIs.
“My college coach really likes different planes. I don’t really throw curveball, screwball anymore because it’s on the same plane,” Strasser said. “So rise-drop change, you change planes and speed, so that really throws people off I feel like.”
Brooks was the star pitcher and batted cleanup for the 2B State Champions. Committed to playing softball at Centralia College next season, Brooks hit .564 with 44 hits, including seven homeruns and led the team with 51 RBI’s. In the circle, Brooks was 17-0 with a 0.84 ERA and struck out 111 batters in 83 innings.
“It was a lot in the eyes, if I look them in the eyes, then I’ll scare them out of the batters box, that was my first strategy,” Brooks said. “When that didn’t work, I was like, ‘Well, I guess I’ll have to put some movement on it. So that’s what it is, a lot of movement.”
Joining Strasser on the All-Area team from W.F. West was catcher Paetynn Lopez. Lopez hit .432 with four home runs and 28 RBIs in her freshman campaign, along with throwing out five runners attempting to steal.
Junior Kindra Davis was back on the All-Area team after being named the MVP of last year’s All-Area team. Davis continued to provide power at the plate for the Bearcats, hitting a team-high .507 with seven homers and 30 RBIs with a .930 fielding percentage after moving from catcher to third base.
Shortstop Olivia Dean was also back on the All-Area squad this season. The junior backed up her outstanding defense with speed on the basepaths and the ability to find a hole in the defense, hitting .438 out of the leadoff spot with a team-high 13 stolen bases and splitting the EvCo Offensive MVP with teammate Davis.
Last, but most certainly not least, was W.F. West’s Ashlee Vadala. Vadala split time between the pitching circle and first base, and swung a boomstick at the plate, hitting .463 with three homers and 31 RBIs.
Brooks also had plenty of PWV company on the All-Area squad. Freshman Britney Patrick moved up the batting order throughout the season after showing off her power, and ended the season with a team-high .653 batting average that included five home runs and 42 RBIs.
Sid Pollard was another Titan that swung a big bat. Pollard hit .561 and had 46 hits and four home runs.
The Titans’ had another freshman step up big this season in Katelyn McGough. McGough hit .568 and scored a team-high 56 runs while also collecting 46 hits and four home runs. McGough hit three homers in four games at the state tournament, including a three-run shot in the championship game.
Catching for Dakota Brooks throughout the season was Grace Hodel, who kept baserunners in check while hitting .458 with 26 RBIs and 28 runs.
The team was, however, more than just Bearcats and Titans. Napavine’s Maddie Thompson and Abbi Music both made the All-Area team.
Music was the star pitcher for the second-place Tigers, working 96 ⅔ innings while striking out 129 batters with 11 wins, and helped her cause at the plate with a .457 batting average while scoring 42 runs and 29 RBIs. She allowed just four runs in three games to get Napavine into the state title game.
Thompson, a junior shortstop, batted leadoff for Napavine, hitting .510 with a team-high 49 hits and leading the team with 47 runs.
Adna’s Jenikka Poppe made the All-Area team for the second straight season, helping lead the Pirates back to the state tournament with her contributions in the circle and at the plate.
Rochester’s Delaney Glazer made the All-Area team, taking on a prominent role in the circle this season as a sophomore. She finished the season with a 2.36 ERA, and struck out 85 batters with a .988 fielding percentage.
Onalaska’s Alicia Vint and Morton-White Pass’ Zoe McCoy cracked the All-Area team list this season. Vint was a key player for the Loggers’ this season at the plate, hitting .680 with a .986 slugging percentage and only striking out once all season.
McCoy was the leading pitcher for the Timberwolves this season, striking out 134 batters in 123 ⅓ innings and started 24 of the 25 games for the Timberwolves. McCoy also hit .345 and led the team with six doubles and tied for the team lead with 23 RBIs.
