Catcher Raegyn Dupree and pitcher Red Fuller react to the final out against Bishop Kelly on Thursday as the Huskies claimed the District III championship 7-4 over the three-time defending 4A State champions.
The Emmett Huskies celebrate their new title of District III champions with a pledge to push on the fight at the State championships in Twin Falls this week.
Huskie third baseman Katy Martinez scoops up a ground ball in front of shortstop Harper Goodwin to record an out on a throw to first in District III championship action on Thursday.
Catcher Raegyn Dupree and pitcher Red Fuller react to the final out against Bishop Kelly on Thursday as the Huskies claimed the District III championship 7-4 over the three-time defending 4A State champions.
Tyann Alder photo
The Emmett Huskies celebrate their new title of District III champions with a pledge to push on the fight at the State championships in Twin Falls this week.
Tyann Alder photo
Huskie third baseman Katy Martinez scoops up a ground ball in front of shortstop Harper Goodwin to record an out on a throw to first in District III championship action on Thursday.
There was a sense that the Emmett Huskies just needed to find a way to get over a mental hump against two conference foes if they wanted to return to 4A State tournament play for the first time since 2011. Last week the Huskies confronted those mental blocks in a big way — sweeping past two-time defending 5A champion Skyview and three-time defending 4A champion Bishop Kelly to win their first District III 4A title since 2007.
“We felt we have been right there for several weeks, just missing a play or two to get over the hump,” coach Shawn Marquez said. “I think we now know what it feels like to be on the other side and we like it.”
The consecutive wins against Skyview and Bishop Kelly doesn’t provide the Huskies a clear shot at their third State softball title, however. Despite the late season run and the District title, State seeding is determined by a Max Preps ranking system and Emmett is given the number-eight seed and will face top-seeded and undefeated 26-0 Pocatello at 11 a.m. on Friday at the College of Southern Idaho in Twin Falls.
“We’re more than ready for the challenge,” said Marquez. “This team is going to be hard to beat. They worked out Friday like caged beasts and then had a steak dinner. I guess you can say we are hungry to do more.”
The last time Emmett traveled to a 4A State softball tournament, they went as the second seed from District III in 2011 but came home with the golden hardware. The Huskies only other State softball crown came in 2002 when Katie Zillner etched her name in the record books with a legendary 49 innings of dominant pitching.
Emmett will have to rely on more solid pitching from senior Karadyn Fuller to advance through State but timely power hitting has been a trademark in recent weeks — including the three-game sweep to the District III title.
After dispatching Columbia in the District tournament opener, 12-1, the Huskies traveled to Skyview to face a team which had its number during the regular season. After the Hawks jumped out to a 3-0 lead with a single run in each of the first three innings it appeared the script had not been revised.
Back to back solo home runs from Katy Martinez and Hailee Stephenson in the top of the fourth ignited a new confidence. Then Stephenson raked a bases loaded three-run double in the fifth to claim the lead. A Kayla Vahlberg single drove in the second of two in the sixth and a solo home run from Raegyn Dupree in the top of the seventh gave them enough cushion to withstand a two-run bottom of the seventh from Skyview to claim the 9-7 win.
But that pitted them against a Bishop Kelly team that had run all over 4A competition the past three years for State titles and had swept through Southern Idaho Conference play this spring, 12-0. That included 17-7 and 14-1 wins over the Huskies.
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Emmett decided to hit hard and fast. Vahlberg singled in the top of the first and came home on a Martinez triple. Martinez came home on a passed ball for a 2-0 edge — a lead they would never surrender.
A three-run top of the fifth served notice to the Knights that their District III championship reign was in jeopardy. Three walks and a Vahlberg double brought in a run and a Dupree single plated two more.
The Knights retaliated with two runs of their own in the bottom of the fifth but a two-run Emmett sixth provided a little breathing room.
Bishop Kelly scored twice in the bottom of the seventh and had the bases loaded when Fuller recorded her eight strikeout of the game and the Huskies celebrated the 7-4 win.
Fuller had an outstanding week, going the full 14 innings in the circle, scattering eight hits, and striking out 17. She wasn’t shaken by a tiny strike zone established behind the plate and was able to battle and not allow 24 walks issued in the two games to translate into more runs.
Skyview eliminated Bishop Kelly 5-3 on Saturday and the Hawks will be the second team from District III making the trip to Twin Falls, but they have drawn the number-two seeding.
Emmett, with a 13-10 season record, will be considered underdogs against the 26-0 Thunder in its opener, but they have been playing that role most of the season. They had a non-conference schedule filled with 5A teams that have advanced to State play this spring as well. The Huskies also have a little 4A softball history on its side. District III has won the State 4A title seven consecutive years, and all but two of the crowns since competition began in the division in 2001.
Pocatello has shown itself to be stingy in the runs allowed category, posting seven shutouts behind junior pitcher Miah Lusk. Both Emmett and Pocatello would be considered young teams as each squad only carries two seniors.
The other opening game in the Emmett half of the eight-team bracket will see fourth-seed Hillcrest facing fifth-seed Moscow. The double elimination tournament could require a team to play as many as six games in the two days at CSI.
