With its season on the line in the first round of the 3A KingCo softball tournament, Bellevue was down to its final hope with two outs in the seventh inning against Mercer Island.
Thankfully for the Wolverines, that hope came in the form of Kristie Bennett.
Bennett hit a three run walk-off home run to beat the Islanders 7-6 and keep her team’s postseason run alive, sending them to the Sea-King district tournament in the process.
Two Bellevue runners reached base with two outs in the final frame, before Bennett delivered the knockout blow to MI, and set the stage for a memorable two days at the conference tournament.
The Wolverines fell to eventual champion Mount Si 9-4 in the semifinals, but came back later in the day to beat Liberty 9-8 in eight innings, capping another comeback and taking the third seed to districts.
Bellevue trailed 6-0 against the Patriots before scoring seven runs in the sixth inning and getting the game winning run from an Amelia Beardsley home run.
Seattle Prep will be waiting at Lower Woodland in Seattle for a 2 p.m. May 20 loser-out first round game. The winner will face Holy Names in a winner-to-state quarterfinal later in the afternoon.
Knights drop Bothell, one win from state
Newport is one win from a state tournament spot after beating Bothell 6-5 in the first round of the 4A KingCo tournament.
Sydney Tomlinson had three RBI and Kaitlin Sahlinger knocked in two more.
Kat Wood worked a complete game in the circle for the Knights, striking out 10.
Woodinville, which beat Issaquah 12-1 in another first round game, is all that stands between Newport and the fourth trip to state in program history. The two meet at 5 p.m. May 19 at Inglemoor.
