Miracle on Montlake

A comeback for the ages

Justin Johnson | May 25, 20230

The torrent of emotion on Sami Reynolds’ face was unmistakable.

It didn’t matter if you were sitting under the light drizzle of rain at Husky Softball Stadium or, as I was, sitting comfortably at home watching on television.

Reynolds stood safely on second base, hands on her face, eyes glistening, as she looked back at the dugout and roared “LET’S GO!”

Just moments before, Reynolds and her University of Washington softball team looked dead in the water.

The Huskies, who hadn’t scored in 16 straight innings, trailed McNeese State 6-0 in the seventh inning of a winner-take-all NCAA Regional final.

With the bases loaded after clawing back three runs, the Huskies’ flame guttered as Reynolds faced an 0-2 count.

One pitch, one strike and the game would be over.

The fifth-year senior didn’t flinch.

With the Cowgirls’ defense backed up deep, Reynolds dropped a bases-clearing double into the left field gap that rolled all the way to the fence.

Baylee Klinger, the Huskies’ star second baseman, slid safely into home plate and the game was tied.

“Honestly, Coach Tarr looked at me and I looked at her and she’s like, ‘get your at-bat back,’” Reynolds said at a postgame news conference. “So it kind of whipped me back into shape. I watched the ball go by down and out, and then I knew that she was gonna work me away and I was like, ‘I’m gonna hit it as far and as hard as I can.’ So I just committed to that outside half of the plate.

“I’m a very emotional person, so I instantly started getting tears in my eyes. But, I’m just, I’m so proud of everybody that was on base for me and that everybody who was able to score and then obviously we were staying alive at that point, so I was just overjoyed and emotional.”

With Reynolds on second, Madison Huskey, yet another of Washington’s fifth-year seniors, came up to the plate for the second time in the inning and doubled through the right field gap to bring Reynolds home and put Washington ahead 7-6.

Despite playing at home, the Huskies were the visiting team, meaning that three outs still separated them from victory.

After McNeese put its leadoff batter aboard, a strikeout, a flyout to Reynolds in left field and, finally, a 6-4 groundout from Rylee Holtorf to Klinger ended it and set off a raucous celebration.

According to ESPN Stats & Info, teams trailing by six or more runs in an NCAA Regional game were 5-903, and no team had ever done it trailing by six in the final inning.

When asked in the postgame news conference if the win was the most improbable in program history, Washington coach Heather Tarr said, “Yeah, I mean, especially with those stakes. I mean it could be one thing like just a random, you know, end of the year game or something like that. But I mean, we were done. These guys were going to, we were gonna tell you a different speech an hour ago. This conversation was not gonna be this conversation and it would’ve sucked. And you know, when you’re on your deathbed and you don’t wanna go down, like it’s pretty special to see what a group like this could come through with.”

Having spent seven years working in athletic communications for an NCAA Division I university, with softball being one the primary sports I worked with, it’s no secret that I’m a huge fan of the sport. Especially this time of year.

I was fortunate to have been part of two tournament championship teams and tag along for two NCAA Regional appearances. The second of those was in 2016 and we faced Huskies in Seattle, and despite getting run-ruled 14-6 that year, I left feeling that Husky Softball Stadium is a special place.

Washington — one of just two Division I teams in the state — just added a pretty amazing chapter to its storied legacy.

When Reynolds hit that double, I jumped out of my chair and I didn’t sit down again until the game was over.

And I’m already looking forward to seeing what the Huskies do during this weekend’s Super Regional against Louisiana.