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Thursday, May 9, 2019 - Shelton-Mason County Journal - Page B-1
North Mason High School senior Makinna Skjonsby returns serve May 1 in Belfair against Sequim.
Skjonsby won her match 6-3, 6-0. Jouma/photo by Justin JOhnson
5kjonsby aims for league championship, more
By Justin Johnson
justin@masoncounty com
fter four years wearing
blue and white, Makinna
Skjonsby's high school ten-
nis career will end at some point
in the next few weeks.
The North Mason High School
friends," Skjonsby said. "It is real-
ly fun cheering for good shots and
encouraging my teammates."
senior is, however, focused on the Skjonsby went 6-2 at No. 1 sin-
task ahead as she heads to the 2A gles for the Bulldogs this year, and
Olym~gue tournament for wrapped uEtthe regular season
the Bulldogs at No. 1 singles, with a commanding 6-3, 6-0 win
"I love having fun playing with over Sequim's top singles player.
my close friends. It's been a great The Wolves went 16-0 this season,
season because the whole team with seven perfect dual victories.
got along so well together, from
freshman to senior, we were all see TENNIS, page B-4
THE FAR POST
uilding something is never
easy.
It takes work -- lots of it.
As I've mentioned previously,
prior to coming here to work for the
Shelton-Mason County Journal, l
spent seven years doing athletic com-
munications work for Weber State
University in
Utah. During that
time, the Wildcats
added college soft-
ball tothe lineup
of sports offered. I
had front-row seats
to the birth of a
new program.
[n 2010, two
By JUSTIN years after the
JOHNSON program was an-
nounced, Weber
State fielded its
fledgling team. The result of that
-first year was a 2-48 record, and the
second of those wins came in the final
game.
Everyone has to start somewhere.
Under a new coach in 2015, the
program's sixth season, Weber State
won the Big Sky Conference tourna-
ment, riding a late-season seven-
game winning streak to a berth in the
big dance - the NCAA tournament. In
2016, the Wildcats won the league's
regular season title and again won
the conference tournament, where
they faced Washington in the first
round. In 2017 and 2018, and again
here in 2019, Weber State won its
league's regular season title.
All of that from a program that
didn't exist 10 years ago.
This spring in Mason County, I've
had the opportunity to watch not just
one but two young high school softball
teams grow up. (I'll never get used to
calling it fastpitch instead.)
The Shelton High School fastpitch
team is currently in the midst of a
stunning late-season resurgence that
see FAR POST, page B-2
By Justin Johnson
justin@masoncoun com
The temperature lately in Mason Coun-
ty has been rising, but it's no match for the
scorching heat coming off the diamond at
Shelton High School's fastpitch field.
Riding the arm of sophomore southpaw
pitcher Kamryn Hyland on Monday in Shel-
ton, the Highclimbers crushed Capital 15-0 in
five innings to move into a tie for fourth place
in the South Sound Conference.
Hyland faced 22 Cougar batters and struck
out 13, including five looking, as the High-
climbers won their fifth straight game all
of which came in an eight-day span from April
29 to Monday.
"Our confidence has been building tremen-
dously. Being put in a position of play or go
home, we had some pressure put on to us,"
said Hyland, who was also 3-for-4 with three
RBI and three runs scored against the Cou-
gars. "That really helped us pull it together
and start playing as a team rather than
see FASTPITCH, page B-6
The Shelton High School fastpitch team huddles May 3 at
Highclimber Fastpitch Field in Shelton after defeating Kings-
ton, 18-4, in five innings. Journa/photo by Justin Johnson
+ +