It might be tempting to label Haydyn Higgins an unlikely hero for No. 1 seed Henley (29-2).
After all, the sophomore isn’t one of Henley’s regular starters, more often seeing action as a courtesy runner or pinch hitter. Coming into Tuesday’s OSAA 4A semifinal game against No. 4 seed Astoria (21-7), Higgins had made 28 plate appearances this season.
Even with limited at-bats, though, Higgins showed an ability to contribute to a powerful Hornets lineup, hitting .385 with 1 home run and 16 RBI. Her efforts impressed Henley head coach Brian Stock enough that he inserted her into the lineup against Astoria as the designated player.
With that in mind, it doesn’t seem like Stock would agree that Higgins was any less likely than the Hornets’ other eight batters to have delivered the game-tying hit that helped send Henley back to the state championship.
“It’s what makes us a really good team,” Stock said. “We have girls up and down the lineup that can compete at the plate.”
Astoria took a 1-0 lead in the top of the first inning on a two-out double by Shelby Bruney that drove in Hailey Svensen. After Annie Campos struck out the side in the top of the second, the Hornets put the tying run on third with nobody out in the bottom half of the inning but failed to capitalize.
The Fishermen threatened again in the top of the fourth, putting a runner on third with one out, but Campos forced a groundout and a pop out to end the threat.
In the top of the fifth, Astoria freshman Taryen Wray blasted her second solo home run of the playoffs over the center field fence to put the Fishermen up 2-0. Henley came to bat in the bottom half of the inning having recorded just one hit through the first four frames.
They recorded five in their next eight at-bats.
First, Gracie White led off with a single. Then, Natalie Hudson followed with a double. That put two runners in scoring position for Higgins, who had flown out in first base foul territory her only other time up.
Higgins swung and missed at the first two pitches before lining the third into left field to score White and Hudson.
Later, with two outs and runners on second and third, Astoria intentionally walked Campos to bring up Belle Birch. On the first pitch she saw, Birch sent the ball bouncing hard into center field, scoring Higgins and Anna Harper to give Henley a 4-2 lead.
“We were more aggressive early in counts that inning, which helped,” Stock said.
A two-out double by Higgins in the bottom of the sixth inning was as close as either team came to scoring again. Suzy Nichols, one of Henley’s two seniors, caught a pop fly in right field to end her final home game.
Officially, this is Henley’s 11th state championship game appearance and fifth in the past six seasons, with their last win coming in 2017. The Hornets also made the 2021 4A Showcase title game, which was not sponsored by the OSAA and is not counted in the association’s record books. Only 5A Churchill has more OSAA championship game appearances than Henley, with 12.
At the plate, Higgins went 2-for-3 with 2 RBI; Birch went 1-for-2 with 2 RBI; and Campos went 0-for-1 and was walked twice. Campos’ final line in the circle was 7 IP, 7 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 7 K. Her fourth strikeout of the game, which she recorded to lead off the top of the third inning, was her 200th of the season.
For Astoria, Bruney went 2-for-3 with 1 RBI; Wray went 1-for-3 with 1 RBI; and Kya Lindell went 3-for-4. In the circle, Maddie Wilkin pitched all 6 innings, allowing 7 hits and 4 earned runs while walking 3 and striking out 10. It’s the most strikeouts an individual pitcher has recorded against Henley this season.
“That’s a good team with a really good pitcher,” Stock said.
The Fishermen only lose one senior from this year’s team, which was the first in program history to make the state semifinals: catcher Fionna Duryea, who has signed with Division III Pacific Lutheran.
This was the first time Henley has faced Astoria in softball since at least 2013, but it was the third time this year the two schools have met in a playoff game. The Hornets beat the Fishermen in the first round of the 4A boys basketball tournament and the 4A girls basketball championship game (where Campos and Harper squared off with Bruney, Lindell and Aryana Adams).
Henley is now on a 25-game winning streak (including a pair of forfeits) and will face No. 3 seed Pendleton (28-2), who is on a 12-game winning streak, in the title game. It will be a rematch of last year’s state semifinal, which the Hornets won 11-10 in eight innings thanks to a walk-off RBI by Hudson.
It’s the sixth state championship game appearance for the Buckaroos and second in three years; they won the 5A title in 2022 as part of a co-op with Griswold. Pendleton has won four state championships (2012, 2014, 2018 and 2022), while Henley has won two (1989 and 2017).
The 2024 OSAA 4A softball championship game is scheduled for 12 p.m. Saturday at the University of Oregon’s Jane Sanders Stadium.