MOSES LAKE — The Washington Rage 16U (15-9-1) are the North American Fastpitch Association Summer Nationals champions after going on an undefeated tournament run over the weekend. In the aftermath of a successful finish to the summer season, the Rage are over the moon, Head Coach Bob Richardson said.  

“They had a great time,” Richardson said. “As we went through the second half of the season, we really gelled, and I think the girls became really tight this week because we spent a lot of time together, a lot of team bonding.  I've gotten close with a runner-up (finish) here, but I've never won it. To win it, that's all the work that everyone has put in finally paying off.”

The Rage ran the table from the beginning; earning statement wins 14-2 and 10-2 on Friday. From there, they advanced to Sunday’s semifinals after a 9-1 victory on Saturday. They faced the Northwest Elite 16U in the semifinals and would give them their toughest game of the tournament.  

The Rage outlasted their opponent to win 2-1 to advance to the championship game against the Pioneer Premier 16U. After a slow defensive battle in the first three innings, the Rage broke the game open in the final innings to win 12-1 and secure the championship.  

Heading into this tournament, Richardson emphasized defensive execution as a key to success. 

“The defense played exceptionally well; our pitching was really good,” he said. “Brooklyn Bruce made three amazing catches that saved the game for us. Without those catches, we don't win that (semifinal) game; our defense was huge. 

The road to the semifinals 

The Rage earned their first win in just three innings against the Charge Fastpitch 16U. Bruce, Kylie Christensen, Rayna Waters, Taylor Peterson and Isabella Suarez helped the team jump out to a 5-0 lead in the first inning and take firm control of the game.  

From there, they added four more runs in the second and five more in the third. The Charge were only able to score single runs in the bottom of the first and third innings, sealing a 14-2 win for the Rage to open the weekend. 

With how their prior tournament concluded in the Summer Meltdown, Richardson felt his team was hungry to make some noise offensively.  

“They were hungry to get it going,” the coach said. “Then just to keep the pedal to the floor, that was fun. It was nice to get out of that game quickly. We played back-to-back, so getting out to a lead real quick and getting that game done quickly gave us a little bit of time to kind of scout the next team we were going to play and did the same thing to them.” 

Their next game on Friday came against the Pioneer Premier 16U – this would be the first time the two teams met this weekend. Though Pioneer struck first, claiming a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning, the Rage quickly recaptured momentum. The bats erupted for five runs in the top of the second inning.  

From there, they held Pioneer scoreless for the remainder of the game while they added four runs in the third inning and a single in the fifth to secure a 10-2 win. Leading the team in runs was Christensen and Waters with three each. 

“When they got that lead, we got a little more aggressive on the base paths,” Richardson said. “I'm able to really put pressure on their defense, and when they're worrying about her stealing, it's fun for me because I get to be a little more creative with what we're doing. The pitching was worried more about the base runners than actually throwing quality pitches, and we just jumped all over it.” 

With the win, the Rage moved onto Saturday where they faced the Liberty Lake Lightning 16U. In their lone game that day, the Rage controlled the game from the start, slowly built a 2-0 lead, including a home run by Claire Michelbook, while holding the Lightning scoreless.  

Seven runs across the fourth and fifth innings were enough to seal the win and advance them to the semifinals.  

As the team got further into the tournament, Richardson sensed a different vibe from his players, he said.  

“I didn't want to say it to my girls, but my assistant coach and I were talking, and we're like, ‘These girls are focused. This is a different mentality,’” he said. “We felt like, man, they're in a great headspace right now. The aggressiveness and the eagerness to just kick butt was there. We felt like we had a really good shot. We knew a couple teams were going to be a test, and they ended up being a test until we got into the championship game.” 

Semifinals nailbiter 

The Northwest Elite 16U dragged the Rage into deep waters, however, they proved they could swim in this game. The Rage took the lead first in the top of the second inning, thanks to a run by Christensen. From there, the two teams went back and forth until the Elite tied it up with a single run in the bottom of the fourth inning.  

However, the Rage responded swiftly with a single run by Suarez to reclaim the lead at 2-1. The two teams went scoreless for the remainder of the game as the Rage held on to advance to the championship game, in a rematch with the Pioneer.  

Their semifinal win proved what this team is capable of, Richardson said.  

“That showed all of the reps that we put in at practice, and all of the conversations and walking through scenarios,” he said. “There was a point where they had bases loaded with one out in the seventh inning, and we were able to get a strikeout, and then we had a pop up to get out of the game, and that was obviously good pitching, but (also) the defense just being aware of the situation and knowing how to seize the moment.” 

Summer Nationals Champions 

If the Rage wanted to call themselves champions, they had to overcome a team they had already beaten in Pioneer. It was a scoreless game through the top of the third inning before the Rage fell behind 1-0.  

However, they responded with two runs in the top of the fourth inning by Bruce and Christensen to take a 2-1 lead over Pioneer. A switch at pitcher by Pioneer helped the Rage break the game open, Richardson said. 

“As a coach, I would have kept that first pitcher in because we did struggle with her. She threw with some velocity, but she also moved the ball around a little bit,” he said.  

After holding them scoreless, the Rage added five more runs at the swift feet of Michelbook (twice), Christensen Kylah Young and Amaiah Martinez. Holding Pioneer scoreless once again in the bottom of the fifth inning, the Rage rode their momentum to another five run inning to seal a 12-1 victory.  

With this tournament win, the Rage concluded their summer season. Though it was full of ups and downs, Richardson said it will go down in his top five most fun teams he’s been able to coach. 

“They played for each other,” he said. “They’re doing everything for each other and as one. When you can get that, that makes life so much easier, because then all we have to do is just work on tweaking and refining and teaching them some of the things they don't know about the game.” 

BOX SCORES: 

Friday games 

Game one 

RAGE: 5-4-5: 14 

CHRG: 1-0-1: 2 

Game two 

RAGE: 0-5-4-0-1: 10 

PREM: 2-0-0-0-0: 2 

Saturday 

Game three 

RAGE: 1-1-0-3-4: 9 

LBLK: 0-0-0-1-0: 1 

Sunday 

Semifinals 

RAGE: 0-1-0-0-1-0-0: 2 

NWEL: 0-0-0-1-0-0-0: 1 

Championship game 

RAGE: 0-0-0-2-5-5: 12 

PREM: 0-0-1-0-0-0: 1 

    The Washington Rage 16U clears the dugout after winning the North American Fastpitch Association Summer Nationals tournament, Sunday.