On Sunday afternoon, with their season on the line, the University of Washington softball team pulled off one of the biggest comebacks in the history of the sport. And that’s not even some writer exaggerating. It’s also no great surprise. It’s the kind of ridiculous feat that simply makes sense when the Huskies pull it off. 

Washington softball has quietly been one of the most dominant programs in the country since head coach Heather Tarr took over in 2005, and one of the most thrilling sports teams to watch in Seattle for just as long. In Baylee Klingler and Sami Reynolds, this year’s squad has a pair of superstar veteran hitters. In Ruby Meylan, it has a freshman ace who is already building a legacy at a program known for producing great pitchers like Danielle Lawrie and Gabbie Plain.

As a sport, NCAA softball is exciting to watch. Fast-paced, athletic, and emotional, it’s basically all the things Major League Baseball has tried to reverse engineer with its recent spate of rule changes. And the Huskies play a particularly fiery brand of softball. Yes, they execute the fundamentals and slap line drives around the field, but they also play hard, and hit the ball really hard. This is not a team that settles for singles. 

The Huskies entered Sunday needing only to defeat the McNeese State Cowgirls of Louisiana to advance to the Super Regionals and a shot at the College World Series. And better yet, because of tournament seeding, they would have two chances to do so. 

Well, McNeese State won the first game 1-0. Then the Cowgirls built up a 6-0 lead in the second game—and sustained it all the way into the final inning. It was a weird day. For one thing, due the nature of the tournament format, the Dawgs were playing as the visiting team in that final game despite being on their home field. Husky Softball Stadium has a case for being Seattle’s best sports venue: intimate and loud tucked up against Lake Washington. 

But it was getting quiet on Sunday amid a drizzle as the Huskies fell behind. Then in the seventh, the hits started coming. Single, double, single, and on and on it went, until a two-out, three-run double by Sami Reynolds tied the game at six, and another double by Madison Huskey put Washington in the lead. They held on and will host Louisiana next weekend in a best of three series for the chance to go to the College World Series.

It goes without saying that we don’t get to see sustained runs of athletic excellence too often in this town. But UW Softball is an exception we should appreciate. They won it all in 2009 and were runners up in 2018. Only 16 teams across the country are still playing in 2023. These Huskies are worth watching. 

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