On the eve of the Kentucky Derby, you could say that Lower Columbia softball hit the trifecta.
 
By sweeping a pair of home games from Grays Harbor on Friday, the Red Devils 1) clinched the NWAC South Region title, 2) ran their winning streak to 39 games to break a school record and 3) celebrated its "awesome eight" veteran players on Sophomore Day.
 
The South Region title is Coach Traci Fuller's second in her 14-year career at LCC. The first one came in 2018.
 
The consecutive win record had been held by the 2002 team, which started 3-1 and won its final 38 straight games to finish 41-1 and earn the NWAC Championship. The coach of that team was Tim Mackin and the league MVP was Ksandra Sims Mackin. Tim is the grandpa and Ksandra the mom of current Devil softball player Kaydence Mackin, which made for a special moment during Friday's celebration.
 
Sophomores Hailey Brooks, Katelyn Swanson, Brooklyn Loose, Kaydence Mackin, Joelie Eder, Lexi Grumbois, Savannah Hawkins and Allison Baumgart and their families were honored between games in the DH. What a special group – Katelyn, Brooklyn, Kaydence, Joelie, Lexi and Ali are two-year Red Devils and to-date Lower Columbia's record in their tenure is 81-13.
 
LCC has four regular season games remaining, Tuesday at home at 3:00 pm vs Mt. Hood and Friday at 3:00 pm at Centralia. The final stop for 2025 will be the 16-team, double-elimination NWAC Championships May 15-18 at Delta Park in Portland.
 
Friday game recap:
 
Game 1: Lower Columbia 15, Grays Harbor 2 (five innings) – The Chokers scored a run in the top of the first inning, before the Red Devils answered with eight runs in the bottom half.
 
Grumbois led off with a double, Loose followed with an RBI triple and Swanson later ripped an RBI single, before Gabi Silveria smoked a grand slam. It was the Woodland freshman's second slam of the week. Along with an RBI double later, Silveria now has 27 RBI in the past eight games.
 
Loose and Brooks added home runs later in the game. Mackin, Brooks, Loose, Silveria and Baumgart each had a pair of hits.
 
With the offense rolling, Jadyn Terry took care of business in the circle running her record to 8-0. The redshirt freshman from Longview went the distance, allowing two earned runs and just five hits, while fanning nine Chokers and issuing no walks. Terry is sixth amongst NWAC pitchers with an earned run average of 3.39.
 
The win gave Lower Columbia its school record tying 38^th straight win.
 
Game 2: Lower Columbia 8, Grays Harbor 0 (five innings) – With the victory the 2025 team went into the record book with 39 consecutive wins. Of course, the goal is to add to that starting on Tuesday.
 
Zoey Hughes was unhittable, literally, as she spun her second no-hitter. The Battle Ground freshman also has a pair of perfect games on the season.
 
Hughes' record is now 13-0 with an NWAC-best 1.65 earned run average.
 
Emma Langsi got the Red Devil offense on the board with an RBI triple in the second inning. Silveria followed with an RBI single, Loose stroked an RBI double and Eder added an RBI single to put LCC ahead 4-0.
 
Loose later added a two-RBI double and Cerenity Fake chipped in a sacrifice fly.
 
Eder and Loose each had two hits and Hawkins and Dani Ambriz both doubled.
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