2A Prep Softball: Mark Morris vows big return after 3rd place finish at State (UPDATED)

‘I’ll Be Back’ – Mighty Monarchs take home first State trophy since 1995

Mark Morris’ Shyanne Sellers throws a pitch during a 14-1 win over Tumwater in the third place game at the 2A State Tournament, Saturday, May 24, at Carlon Park in Selah. The victory earned the Monarchs their first State trophy since 1995. / Photo by Dylan Wilhelm of The Chronicle

Jordan Nailon / blastzonenews@gmail.com

High School Softball

SELAH – In the moments immediately after the Mark Morris softball team claimed its first State trophy in three decades, it was hard to get the Monarchs to talk about anything other than next season.

The Monarchs had just put the finishing touches on a 14-1 victory over Tumwater in the third place game at the 2A State Tournament. And they’d hit four home runs in that contest alone to punctuate the ending. And that outburst came on the heels of a do-or-die 8-5 win over Lynden in Saturday’s afternoon game at Carlon Park.

But Mark Morris came up empty in its semifinal contest, losing a heartbreaker 1-0 to Port Angeles. And that fork in the road in the season’s penultimate game seemed to be sticking with the Monarchs, like popcorn in your teeth, or red Sports Drink on the lips of T-ballers.

Mark Morris finished the season with an overall record of 26-2. The Monarchs were champions of the 2A GSHL, and placed second at the 2A District IV Tournament, before wrapping their season with the bronze trophy at State.

And the teams they lost to? Port Angeles went on to finish second at State, falling in the State title game to an Aberdeen team which Mark Morris had already topped in the District semifinals. And those pesky District-champion T-Birds of Tumwater wound up in fourth after suffering that revenge beatdown from the Monarchs in the season’s final tilt.

But with just two seniors on the team, and a roster full of underclassmen on the rise, the Monarchs were treating this year’s run to the finish line a reconnaissance mission, rather than a mission accomplished.

“The work’s not done. As far as, we’re going to come back next year and we’re going to win it all,” Mark Morris head coach Chris Mejia said. “That’s the goal. That’s been the goal.”

The Mark Morris Monarchs receive their third place trophy after defeating Tumwater 14-1 in the third place game at the 2A State Tournament, Saturday, May 24, at Carlon Park in Selah. / Photo by Jordan Nailon for Blast Zone Media

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