‘A long time coming’: Emmett senior pitches a gem, leads Huskies to District Three title
Emmett High pitcher Karadyn Fuller is unflappable.
She wasn’t phased when top-seeded Bishop Kelly cut what was a five-run lead to three in the seventh inning of the 4A District Three championship game Thursday.
Even with runners on second and third and the tying run at the plate, she was loose enough to do little dances and choreographed high-fives with the infielders between pitches.
Fuller was even-keeled through all seven innings of the Huskies’ 7-4 win over the Knights, but she couldn’t contain herself after striking out the final batter of the day.
The senior flung her face mask to the side, let out a scream and started collecting hugs — first from catcher Raegyn Dupree and finally from her mother, who watched every pitch from the first-base side of the field at Vallivue High.
Fuller pitched a complete game, limited Bishop Kelly to four hits and struck out eight batters to lead No. 3 Emmett to its first district championship since 2004.
The Huskies also clinched their first berth in the 4A state tournament since 2011.
“This one was a long time coming,” Fuller said after the trophy presentation. “I’ve been waiting for this moment since I was a little freshman.”
Fuller, who is known by her teammates and coaches as “Red” because of her bright red hair, has been a four-year starter for the Huskies. She’s pitched in a lot of big games, but she saved her best performance for the final district championship game of her career, Emmett head coach Shawn Marquez said.
“She’s put in a lot of work over the years and it finally paid off for her,” Marquez said. “She struggled early in the season and gave up a lot of walks, but she tightened it up and here we are. We won districts and we punched our ticket to state.”
Fuller pitched four scoreless innings Thursday, but she found herself in a bit of trouble in the fifth.
Bishop Kelly got on the scoreboard thanks to a perfectly executed bunt from Bella Rausch, and a second run scored on a throwing error, cutting Emmett’s lead to 5-2. Fuller then walked a pair of batters, loading the bases and prompting a visit from her coach.
Marquez didn’t stroll to the pitching circle to take the ball from Fuller, though. He said he never even considered pulling her. He just wanted to make sure she knew the team had her back.
“I just told her to stay in her zone, let her defense work behind her and go right at the batters,” Marquez said. “She’s been in that situation a lot and I trust her.”
Fuller got out of the bases-loaded jam after coaxing a batter to pop out and went on to win the first district championship of her career.
“I was focused on hitting my spots, working the count and throwing around batters, trying to get them to chase anything,” Fuller said. “(In the fifth inning) I just had to get them to swing and trust my defense.”
She walked 12 batters, but Fuller gave up just two earned runs and did enough to keep the Knights guessing at the plate, which Bishop Kelly head coach Missy Nichols said was no surprise.
“We’re very familiar with Red,” Nichols said. “We’ve hit off of her before, but I think the difference today was she stayed disciplined in her pitching and we didn’t stay disciplined at the plate.”
Emmett (13-10) got the scoring started early Thursday after Katie Martinez plated a run with a triple and scored on a sacrifice fly to give the Huskies a 2-0 lead in the first inning.
They stretched that to 5-0 thanks to a two-run single from Dupree in the fifth. Martinez, who finished the game 2-for-3, brought another run across home plate with a single that gave the Huskies a 7-2 lead in the sixth.
Emmett rides into the state tournament on a hot streak. The Huskies knocked off defending 5A state champion Skyview to earn a spot in the district championship and beat defending 4A state champion Bishop Kelly to win the title.
“They’re honing in, so everybody else better watch out, because these girls are hot,” Marquez said.
Bishop Kelly (16-6) cut the Huskies’ lead to 7-3 in the top of the seventh thanks to an RBI single from Amaia Anderson. Another run scored on a wild pitch, but that was as close as the Knights would come to winning their third straight district championship.
The Knights’ season isn’t over, though. They’ll face Skyview at 1 p.m. Saturday at Vallivue in the district tournament’s second-place game. The winner advances to state. The loser’s season is over.
Nichols said she thinks losing in the district championship game may end up being the best thing that could have happened to her team.
“This is where you learn life’s lessons,” she said. “The habit of winning is something that has been passed down from previous teams, and maybe it’s time for the leaders on this team to choose to lead in a little different way.”
This story was originally published May 11, 2023 at 10:12 PM with the headline "‘A long time coming’: Emmett senior pitches a gem, leads Huskies to District Three title."
