How Owyhee softball defied the odds and captured a district title in its first year
Mantha Hatzenbeller didn’t expect much when she joined the Owyhee softball program this season.
First-year programs rarely, if ever, see much success. The team didn’t have a single senior, and only two juniors dotted the roster. So she figured the Storm would spend the year bonding and building toward the future.
Turns out, the future is now.
Owyhee topped perennial power Eagle 7-5 on Friday at Borah High, adding a 5A District Three Tournament title to a banner opening season. No other first-year program in the 5A Southern Idaho Conference has hoisted the district trophy since Eagle in 1996.
“We knew that we would have to prove ourselves because no one would have seen us coming this far,” Hatzenbeller said. “So we just had to have fun and play our hardest. And, honestly, it proved itself and led to this.”
Owyhee (20-7) opened its doors last fall, pulling players from Rocky Mountain, Eagle and Meridian high schools. Opposing coaches knew the Storm would have talent, picking them to finish third in a 5A SIC preseason poll. But building something out of nothing is always easier said than done.
“A lot of people have been talking about Owyhee softball for a very long time,” Owyhee coach Tess Martin said. “They were aware of the talent. But it’s just a matter of putting everybody together and seeing if it could mesh well.
“And that was no easy task. It’s almost more difficult than teaching the fundamentals of the sport.”
Martin set high goals for the Storm. But she carefully never used the word expectations. No one could reasonably expect much from a team full of freshmen and sophomores, she figured.
She said that removed the pressure from her young lineup. But the Storm showed they could handle high-pressure situations just fine Friday.
Eagle (16-9) jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the top of the first inning after Hatzenbeller plunked the first two batters of the game and walked two more in the inning. But she made up for the rocky start with a single swing in the bottom of the first, ripping a three-run home run to left field.
“In the beginning, I was a little nervous. And I’m never a nervous person,” Hatzenbeller said. “I work well under pressure. But going into hitting (that inning), I was like, ‘I kind of gave away those three runs to Eagle, and I’m going to make it up to them. I’ve got to pay them back. It’s my job.’”
That swing sent momentum back to the Owyhee dugout, and the Storm took control in the fourth inning. McKenna Schab broke the tie with an RBI single to left. Then SoBella Malliarodakis followed with a bases-loaded, two-run single.
Eagle made one last rally in the seventh. It pushed two runs across the plate, then put runners on second and third base, with Boise State signee Sydney Groves due at the plate.
Owyhee gambled and intentionally walked Groves for the second time Friday, loading the bases and placing the go-ahead run at first base. But freshman reliever Grace Brooks induced a title-clinching ground ball on the next pitch, continuing a season-long trend of young players stepping up in giant moments.
“She has shown us time and time again she can compete in those high-stress moments,” Martine said. “So we didn’t have any doubts about her. We knew that she would come in, throw hard and hit her spots.”
MORE FIRST-YEAR CHAMPS AT OWYHEE
The Storm follow in the footsteps of Owyhee’s boys basketball team, which also won a district title in its first season, then went on to win a 5A state championship.
Malliarodakis said that showed Owyhee it could compete in its first season.
“If they can do it, so can we,” she said.
OFF TO STATE
Both Owyhee and Eagle clinched their state tournament berths before Friday’s district championship. And the two may meet again in the first round May 20 in Coeur d’Alene.
Eagle is locked in as the No. 5 seed based on regular-season MaxPreps rankings. Owyhee will finish as the No. 4 seed and face the Mustangs again if Timberline beats Lewiston in a play-in game Saturday. If Timberline loses, the Storm move up to the No. 3 seed and to the opposite side of the bracket.
BASEBALL
NORTH STAR CHARTER REPEATS: The Huskies (18-2) held on to beat Glenns Ferry 7-4 to win the 1A District Three Tournament title for the second year in a row. Daniel Kormylo threw six scoreless innings before surrendering four unearned runs in the seventh. But he earned his ninth and final strikeout to seal another trophy for the second-year program.
This story was originally published May 13, 2022 at 9:47 PM.
