BOISE — Hitting home runs isn’t new for Owyhee. Coming into Thursday night’s 5A District III softball championship game, the Storm had hit 62 of them this season.
Add five more to the count.
Owyhee’s offense against Rocky Mountain was fueled by the long ball. Seniors Kina Watts and Rylie Haith combined to hit five home runs, leading the Storm to a 9-4 win, earning their second district title in three years as a program.
For the first time in her career, Watts had a three home run night. Two of her homers were solo, while the third was a two-run shot in the bottom of the sixth inning to give Owyhee a little more cushion ahead of the final frame.
“It’s so much fun,” Watts said about hitting home runs. “Especially because our team is so happy for us. Everyone is happy for each other’s success.”
Two of her home runs were no-doubters over the fence — the other was a line-drive shot to the spectators in center field. It brings her to eight home runs on the season, a mark that five of her teammates have also reached.
Haith hit her eighth and ninth home runs of the season, but perhaps had the biggest home run of the bunch. Her three-run shot in the bottom of the fourth gave Owyhee (20-2) a 5-2 lead after Rocky Mountain (15-12) hit a pair of solo home runs to tie the game.
Owyhee’s dugout got plenty of exercise crowding around home plate for each homer.
“The best part about hitting a home run is running around the bases and coming into the pile,” Haith said. “We all support each other so much and it’s a great thing.”
The Storm haven’t been challenged much this season, winning conference games by an average of 11 runs per game. So when Rocky Mountain — who Owyhee defeated 13-1 in the regular season — made it a challenging affair, the Storm had to respond.
Their relentless lineup of hitters makes that an easy task.
“That’s what we always tell them, the pedal is always down,” Owyhee head coach Tess Martin said. “A small lead is never enough. We’re always wanting more, we’re always wanting to get better, get one more runs across the plate. We’re never really satisfied.”
The only run that wasn’t driven in by Watts or Haith came off the bat of Mantha Hatzenbeller.
She hit an RBI-single in the second inning to give the Storm a 2-0 lead, paired with one of Watts’ home runs earlier in the inning.
Timber Sanders and Savannah Henzler both had solo home runs for the Grizzlies to tie the game at 2 apiece — before Haith’s three-run home run. Once again in the top of the fifth, Rocky Mountain inched closer with a two-RBI single from Aubrey Sorensen, making it 5-4.
But with Watts and Haith combining for three home runs after the top of the fifth, they had the necessary lead to close out the game comfortably. Owyhee relief pitcher Grace Brooks kept Rocky Mountain scoreless in the final two innings.
Owyhee scored three runs in the bottom of the sixth.
“I’m happy that we all came out to play,” Watts said. “Rocky had a great game too, they came out and were out for blood. They competed with us and it made it better. The whole time we had to keep fighting, with one run at least every inning.”
The focus now shifts to the state tournament next week, where Owyhee looks to complete the sweep of regular season, district and state titles.
“To come together and be regular season champions and district champions, that goes to show over a long period of time, we’re continuing to do what we need to do to be one of the top teams,” Martin said. “We’re not done yet, we still have a lot of work to do, but we’re off to a good start.”
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