The No. 14 nationally ranked and No. 2-seeded Western Washington University softball team won the Great Northwest Athletic Conference Championship, shutting out the No. 13 nationally ranked and No. 1-seeded Northwest Nazarene University 4-0 on Saturday, at Viking Field in Bellingham, Wash.
The Vikings went 3-0 in tournament play to claim their first title since 2021.
The game was scoreless through two innings until third baseman Maleah Andrews scored an RBI single in the top of the third to put the Vikings up 1-0. Western wasn’t done, as GNAC Player of the Year Hailey Rath added another RBI single to put the Vikings on top 2-0.
In the top of the fourth, the Vikings would score their final points in the game. Junior outfielder McKenna Crum scored a 2-run RBI double to push the Vikings to a 4-0 lead which they would not surrender.
“It was amazing — I tend to hit balls a lot shorter so finally burning somebody and hitting it over their head…it was a really happy moment for me,” Crum said. “I was like ‘just run…run like hell!’”
The game remained 4-0 heading into the seventh inning. The Nighthawks were down to their last out and Western freshman pitcher Kaiana Kong struck out outfielder Mari Kamemoto.
“We Are the Champions” started blasting and pandemonium ensued at Viking Field.
Andrews earned Tournament MVP honors after finishing 5-for-10 with four RBIs over the three games played.
“We just gotta play like ourselves, we gotta trust each other — which we already do,” Andrews said.
Through 49 games, the Vikings have applied constant pressure to their opposition.
“I feel like we’ve done a great job playing to our strengths — we’ve come out hard every inning and continue to push it even if we’re down,” catcher Emma Andrewjeski-Ramirez said. “We’re just going in as hard as we can, every single pitch.”
In 2023, Rath believed this team could win a championship. A year later, Rath and the Vikings accomplished that goal.
“This year we were together, we had really good team chemistry and we all wanted one goal…which was to be champions and make it to West Regionals,” Rath said.
Winning a championship means it’s time to celebrate.
“We are going to have some fun!” Rath said.
Playing the same team multiple times can be difficult, but the Vikings were prepared for the challenge.
“We wanted to make sure that we did all of the little things correct, make sure that our pitching and defense was on lockdown and that we could put ourselves in a good position,” Western’s assistant coach Shearyna Labasan said. “We knew once we scored a couple of runs, we could hold it down after that.”
One thing that’s been apparent to the Vikings is the support the community has brought them throughout the season.
“We’re so grateful for the support from our families to the people that came by and watched,” Labassan said. “It helps the team feel like we’re playing for something bigger than ourselves.”
The Vikings notched their 42nd win, their most in program history and they accomplished it through strength in numbers.
“The biggest thing is that we get contributions from everybody in the lineup, I think the team does a great job of owning their role,” Western’s head coach Sheryl Gilmore said. “Sometimes you look at other teams and maybe our team in the past, [where] you get one or two superstars — I think the strength of this team is the fact that we get it from everybody else, we’re getting contributions one through nine in the lineup.”
The Vikings now set their eyes on West Regionals, beginning Thursday. The Vikings will find out their seeding and if they will serve as one of the two hosts for West Regionals on Monday.
All-GNAC Vikings:
The Vikings had seven members selected to the All-GNAC 2024 team.
Hailey Rath(GNAC Player of the Year and 1st Team All-GNAC)
Ashley Jacobson(1st Team All-GNAC)
Maleah Andrews(1st Team All-GNAC)
Kaiana Kong(2nd Team All-GNAC)
Emma Andrewjeski-Ramirez(2nd Team All-GNAC)
Joie Baker(Honorable Mention All-GNAC)
Alli Kimball(Honorable Mention All-GNAC)
Sheryl Gilmore(GNAC Coach of the Year)
See more photos of the Vikings conference championship sweep below.
Aiden Luhr is a junior at Western and a sports reporter for The Front. He is a journalism news/editorial major and enjoys anything sports related. You can reach him at aidenluhr.thefront@gmail.com.
