Western Washington University softball clinched the Great Northwest Athletic Conference Tournament championship with a 4-0 win over Northwest Nazarene on Saturday, May 4 at Viking Field.
The No. 14 nationally ranked Vikings (42-7), which had just defeated the No. 13 Nighthawks (39-10) in the semifinals on Friday, May 3 of the double-elimination bracket, secured their third overall title in program history with the win.
Western has now earned an automatic bid to the NCAA II West Regional Championships and will find out Monday, May 6 if they will be one of two host sites for regionals.
Western head coach Sheryl Gilmore said she’s proud of how her team has stayed consistent all season.
“I think as the season started, we knew what we were capable of,” Gilmore said. “We knew that we were capable of accomplishing this. We just had to kind of stay the course and trust the process … We’re happy with where we are, but we’re not surprised — if that makes sense.”
On Saturday, Western took its first and final lead of the game with a pair of runs in the third inning. They tacked on two more insurance runs in the fourth inning and finished the day with nine hits.
Gilmore said the early offense gave their pitchers a bit of breathing room once the Nighthawks stepped up to bat.
“We’re not relying on one person, one superstar to get it done,” Gilmore said. “It’s an entire team effort every single time. I think that’s what makes a good team. It’s just awesome to see them continue to work hard and continue to come together.”
Junior right fielder McKenna Crum led the attack offensively, going 3 for 3 on the day with a two-run double.
“We always like to say, ‘Take it one pitch at a time,’” Crum said. “It was amazing [the two-run double]. I’m a slapper, so I tend to hit balls a lot shorter. Getting it over their heads was a really happy moment for me.”
Senior outfielder Taylor Khorrami was 1 for 2 with a walk and two runs scored, and outfielder Kanilehua Pitoy went 2 for 3 with a run scored.
Freshman Maleah Andrews took home tournament MVP honors, batting .500 (5 for 10) with four RBIs throughout the tourney.
While Crum’s runs may have been the final nail in the coffin for the Nighthawks, earlier plays from Andrews and sophomore shortstop Hailey Rath gave the team momentum as well.
Andrews hit a single through the infield in the third inning to score Khorrami for the first run of the game. Then, in the same inning, Rath hit a soaring sacrifice fly, allowing Crum to tag from third base and score.
Then in the fourth inning, Crum’s two-run double scored Khorrami and Pitoy. Even with a four-run lead, Western never let up.
“We have a lot of respect for [Northwest Nazarene],” Gilmore said. “We know they could come back in an instant … We don’t want to get ahead of ourselves and think we won it, but I know that when we score first, it puts us in a position to win.”
Western’s pitching and defense held off any Nighthawk comeback attempts the rest of the way.
At the top of the sixth inning, Gilmore’s smile grew as she looked up to the right of Western’s dugout and saw more than a dozen of her former players calling out and waving to her. One, Gilmore said, flew in from Las Vegas to witness their alma mater win big.
Students, fans and parents all grew more excited and louder as freshman pitcher Kaiana Kong stepped up to throw the last pitch of the game.
The second the ball left her hand, a moment of silence ushered across the field, before the team rushed the field. Elated students jumped up and down, players cried and parents meandered to the field as “We Are the Champions” by Queen played in the background.
“As soon as it [the game] was finished, I was like, ‘We’re champions,’” Rath said. “And then I’m just super proud of my team. Before coach recruited me, she asked what she could do to bring me in. I said, ‘Coach, all I want to do is win a championship.’ And here we are. We’re champions!”
Now, Western will await its next opponent at regionals.
The goal, of course, is to win the national championship. Even with new, potentially better teams ahead, Gilmore’s belief in her team is unwavering. The team’s theme this year, in Gilmore’s mind, has been grit. Her recipe for success in the postseason is simple — do more of the same.
“They’ve been taking it one pitch at a time, winning the moment right in front of them,” Gilmore said. “For us, grit is passion and perseverance … Regardless of if we’re up, they just continue to win in the moment.”
