Was this the single-greatest performance in a Washington high school softball game ever?
KENT - Gary Graf has been around athletics a long time - and has seen a handful of eye-popping individual performances.
But this spectacle Saturday?
The Untouchable Sarah Wright Express?
Wright happens to be Graf's ace pitcher at Kentwood High School. And she delivered an outing for the ages in the sixth-ranked Conquerors' 6-0 victory over No. 5 Skyview in a Class 4A West Central/Southwest bi-district championship matchup of undefeated teams.
Consider:
* Matched up against Northwest Bullets club pitching teammate Maddie Milhorn, Wright threw a no-hitter, and accounted for 18 of the 21 outs on strikeouts. She also induced a groundout to shortstop, a pop-up to catcher and a flyout to right field.
The only two baserunners she allowed were on errors.
"She is pretty amazing - and she had an amazing day," Skyview softball coach Kim Anthony said. Her ball jumps a lot ... and she moves it around tremendously."
* In a scoreless game early, Lauren Rivera reached on a double, bringing up Wright to face the talented ninth grade ace pitcher for the Storm with two outs in the fourth inning.
She is my (club) teammate, and in practice normally, I always strike out against her," Wright said. "So I was like, ‘Oh my gosh, I am not going strike out this time.’ And then I hit that bomb."
Wright rifled the ball over the left-field fence for a 2-0 Kentwood lead.
* An inning later, Wright put the game out of reach.
Again, it was Rivera directly in front of her in the lineup who did damage, hitting an RBI single to make it 3-0.
And with two runners on, Wright attacked a pitch from reliever Reese Perdue, hammering a moonshot to straightaway center field for a three-run blast.
"She’s as good a player as there is out there right now," said Graf, who has coached softball for 15 years - and football for 26 years.
"Sarah is the greatest competitor I’ve ever coached, and I’ve coached a really long time."
So, how did Wright assess the outing, capped by a mobbed-by-teammates moment after striking out pinch hitter Lainey Phillips for the final out?
"I am excited," she said. "I know everyone else is in a good mood. It's good."
Puyallup defeated Olympia in the third-place game. Battle Ground (win over Graham-Kapowsin) and Emerald Ridge (win over Tahoma) wrapped up the final state-playoff berths to Spokane.
