WASHINGTON, Mo. — Freshman Riley Coleman blasted the softball 250 feet Saturday afternoon.
Sophomore Harper Brown laid down a bunt that traveled 18 inches.
Those completely opposite plays were equally effective for the Washington High softball team.
The Blue Jays used a bloop and a blast to slip past Hillsboro 7-6 in eight innings in the championship game of the Suburban Showdown at The Fields at South Point.
Washington (15-6) captured all three games in the two-day, eight-team affair. They have won four in a row and appear to be rounding into form at the right time.
The Blue Jays began the day with an 11-0 win over Kirkwood in the semifinal round. It ended with a nail-biting finish.
Coleman provided the blast of the day with a long three-run drive that highlighted a five-run opening frame for the hosts. She ripped into a 3-1 offering and drove the ball well over the fence in left field.
“It was an inside pitch and I just opened up on it,” Coleman said.
It was her seventh home run of the season.
The blast was certainly impressive and drew a huge response from the home crowd.
But it was Brown’s mishandled bunt that ended the 2-hour, 2-minute contest.
The international tiebreaker rule was in effect, and much like major league baseball, the teams began the inning with a runner on second base.
Washington used some extremely small ball to push the winning run across.
Leadoff hitter Maddie Kluesner recorded an infield out to advance runner Macy Wieland to third base.
Brown then bunted the ball right in front of the plate. The Hillsboro catcher scooped up the ball up but threw into right field. Wieland marched home easily with the winning run.
The irony of the two biggest plays coming in different ways was not lost on Washington junior catcher Madisen Meyer, who went 4-for-4.
“They all count the same,” Meyer said. “A different way for it to end. But a win is a win.”
Washington coach Grant Young echoed those same thoughts.
“We just put our heads down and got it done,” Brown said.
Washington appeared in total control for most of the afternoon.
The first five batters in the order got on and scored for the early cushion. Kluesner and Brown singled before Meyer popped a hit to left for a 1-0 lead. Coleman, the cleanup hitter, followed with her tape measure shot. Emily Schwoeppe drew a walk and eventually came around on a ground out by Wieland.
Coleman pumped the lead to 6-0 with a RBI hit in the second.
Washington starting pitcher Mackenzie Harrison rolled through the first five innings and got the first two out in the sixth before allowing her first hit.
Hillsboro (8-7) climbed to within one run on a three-run homer by Ella Sabourin. Regan Uphoff smacked a two-run hit to start the rally.
Sophomore Hannah DuBois tied the game with a one-out double in the seventh.
“I was proud of our fight and grittyness,” Hillsboro coach Tish Naeger said. “We could have rolled over and just given it to them, but we didn’t.”
The Blue Jays, who recorded a 5-0 record in the early-season Sullivan Tournament, essentially captured their second crown following a second-place showing at the Seckman Tournament last weekend.
“I think we have a lot of potential,” said Meyer, who was a member of Washington’s 2023 state championship team. “This tournament really showed how much we play for each other.”
The Blue Jays displayed all facets of the game against Hillsboro. In addition to timely hitting and solid pitching, they turned in a couple of nifty plays in the field. Wieland raced deep into the hole at shortstop to throw a runner out. Schwoeppe, in right field, gunned a runner out at first on a rare 9-3 groundout.
“We’ve had our ups and downs,” Coleman said. “Right now we’re just fighting.”
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Steve Overbey | Post-Dispatch
High school sports reporter
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