Top Two Seeds Mt. Hood & North Idaho to Meet in Sunday’s Championship Game

PORTLAND, Ore. – After starting with 16 teams and playing 29 games over three days, the top two seeds entering the 2024 NWAC Softball Championship will meet in the finals on Sunday with the title on the line as No. 2 Mt. Hood takes on No. 1 North Idaho at Delta Park.

The Saints (45-4) will enter championship Sunday with a 4-0 record in the tournament and will thus need to win just one of two games to claim their second title in the three years. The Cardinals (44-3), who are 4-1 in the tournament, will need to win back-to-back games against Mt. Hood to claim their first NWAC title since 2019.

Game 30 of the tournament will start at 11 a.m. on Sunday at Delta Park. If needed, Game 31 is scheduled to start at 1:15 p.m.

GAME 27 | Mt. Hood 8, North Idaho 3
Mt. Hood earned their advantage entering Sunday by defeating North Idaho 8-3 on Saturday. Entering the game, both the Saints and Cardinals were undefeated in the tournament, setting up for a highly anticipated game. Mt. Hood used two three-run home runs to propel them to the victory.

After leading 1-0 through three innings, leadoff hitter Ava Carroll, who drove in the first run of the game, added to her RBI total with a three-run home run to give the Saints a commanding 4-0 lead.

North Idaho battled back as they scored one run in the fourth and added two more in the sixth on a Kani Korok two-run homer to cut the deficit to 4-3. The Saints responded back in the top of the seventh as they scored four runs, capped by Brenna Wilson's three-run home run to put the game out of reach and advance MHCC to the finals.

Bella Carzo pitched six innings, allowing three runs with two earned to earn the win for the Saints. Sara Martin came in and pitched a perfect seventh to preserve the win.

GAME 28 | Lower Columbia 6, Wenatchee Valley 5
Playing at the same time as MHCC and NIC, another outstanding game was taking place between No. 4 Lower Columbia (42-13) and No. 6 Wenatchee Valley (31-16). As the designated home team, the Red Devils got the last chance to bat and took advantage to walk-off in the bottom of the seventh by a 6-5 score.

With one out in the seventh, LCC's Leanna Russell and Sawyer Stenson hit back-to-back solo home runs to send the Red Devils to within one game of championship day. Stenson also had a two-run home run in the top of the first inning that scored Russell.

The Knights led for nearly the entirety of the game as they jumped out to a three-run lead thanks to Kaya Enriquez's three-run bomb in the opening frame. After the Red Devils cut the deficit to one run, the Knights extended the lead back out to three after back-to-back RBI doubles by Hailey South and Alix Bishop in the top of the fourth. LCC was able to chip away at the deficit with RBI singles by Joelie Eder in the bottom of the fourth and Brooklyn Loose in the sixth.

Alli Heater pitched 3.1 innings in relief for the Red Devils, not allowing a hit as she kept her team within striking distance for the incredible comeback win.

Just two years removed from an 8-31 record, the Knights have continued to get better the last two seasons as they took home the fourth place trophy after a strong run in the 2024 tournament.

GAME 29 | North Idaho 11, Lower Columbia 9
After a wild comeback the game prior, the Red Devils used their momentum in their next game against NIC to jump out early on the Cardinals. LCC scored the first run in the top of the second before hanging a six spot in the third to go ahead 7-0. In the inning, Stenson hit a two-run home run while Eder followed up with a three-run four bagger. The Red Devils looked well on their way to victory after Bella Aspaas added on with a two-run home run in the fourth to give them a 9-0 advantage.

However, the top hitting team during the regular season would not go down quietly. From there on out, it was all Cardinals as they broke out with a nine-run inning in the bottom of the fourth to tie the game 9-9. Tayler Thomas jump started the Cardinals' comeback with a grand slam to cut the deficit to 9-5. The offense didn't stop there as Korok had her second two-run home run in as many games. Emily Schulhauser capped off the inning with an RBI single.

In the bottom of the sixth, Schulhauser came up clutch one again for NIC with a two-out two RBI single to give the Cardinals their first lead of the game. That was all Kristine Schmidt would need to close out the game after she entered in relief in the fourth inning. Schmidt was able to keep the Cardinals in the game as she allowed two runs in 3.2 innings of work, shutting out LCC over the final three frames.

The Red Devils finish an outstanding year with a 42-13 record and the NWAC third place trophy.

The finals of the NWAC Championship will be streamed live at nwacsportsnetwork.com. The Saints will be looking for their seventh NWAC title while the Cardinals will go for their third.

To view the updated tournament bracket: CLICK HERE.

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