Top offense, defense face off in title game

WENATCHEE — When Othello, the top defensive team in the 2A State Softball Tournament and Hoquiam, the tournament's top offensive team matched up in the championship game Saturday, it was clear that something had to give. The Lady Huskies, allowing less than two runs per game, were one of few teams that could hope to slow down a Hoquiam offense that averaged better than 10 runs per contest on their way to the 2A title game.

While Othello did manage to win the battle by holding the Grizzlies to a pair of runs, Hoquiam won the war, defeating the Lady Huskies 2-0 for the state championship.

Othello struggled offensively throughout the game, getting only two hits off Hoquiam's Katrina Reime. The Grizzly pitcher did not possess overwhelming speed, but the movement on her pitches, including a tough-to-handle drop ball, kept the Othello hitters from making solid contact. Othello batters struck out nine times in the game.

"I don't know, maybe she was that good of a pitcher," said Othello coach Rudy Ochoa when asked about Reime's ability to stifle the Othello offense.

Ochoa noted that the Lady Huskies had struggled offensively toward the end of the season. While the offense improved during the district tournament and in Friday's state tournament games, Ochoa said his team's offense "kind of fell backwards again" on Saturday.

Hoquiam opened the scoring in the fourth inning when a double down the line in left by Reime scored a Grizzly runner from second base. The game's other run came in the fifth inning, when Whitney Hernandez took a pitch from Othello's Nina Gonzalez and launched it over the left-field fence.

Gonzalez was otherwise in control of the powerful Hoquiam offense, allowing only four hits in seven innings of work. While the entire Othello defense played well, Ochoa was particularly pleased with the work of third baseman Bede Villegas.

Ochoa was understandably disappointed with the championship-game loss, but he was still pleased with his team's season.

"For a while there we went downhill (losing three games in five days)," noted Ochoa. "People said we wouldn't do anything."

"I'm proud that we got second place," said Ochoa. "I'm very happy where we ended up."

To reach the title game, Othello defeated Granite Falls 5-1 in the opening round, topped Archbishop Murphy 4-3 in the quarterfinals and downed Chimacum 4-1 in the semifinal match up.

Othello's victory over Archbishop Murphy, a favorite to win the tournament, gave the Wildcats their first loss of the season.