QUILCENE — Quilcene senior Sammy Rae did everything short of bringing cookies for postgame victory celebrations.
And as a member of Quilcene’s Vocational Cooking Club, she certainly could have handled the baking duties.
Whether on the mound or at the plate, Rae was automatic for the Quilcene Rangers softball team this season.
She was selected by coaches as Sea-Tac League MVP in May.
Rae also is the All-Peninsula Girls Softball MVP, as determined by a poll of area coaches and the Peninsula Daily News sports staff.
The reasons for the accolades are legion.
Rae batted at an astronomical .659 clip with an on-base percentage of .731 and a slugging percentage of 1.317 while driving in 61 runs.
An imposing presence on the mound, Rae tallied 191 strikeouts and compiled a 1.90 ERA in 113 innings pitched.
She also upped her career no-hitter total to 11 — 10 individually and one in combination with Bailey Kieffer.
Rae ended her career, which began as an eighth-grader, with a 71-17 overall pitching record and a .587 batting average with 29 home runs and 196 RBIs. She made the All-Peninsula softball team four times.
Quilcene athletic director Mark Thompson coached Rae from her sophomore season on and also has led teams in Eastern Washington.
He was emphatic Rae was the best softball player he’s ever coached.
“Hands down,” Thompson said.
“I just haven’t coached many players that showed such ability to improve so much as the pressure increased.
“She’s definitely special.”
Rae helped lead the Rangers (20-2) to league and district championships and a third-place finish at state this season, the best-ever showing by a Quilcene fastpitch team.
This year’s third-place trophy was preceded by consecutive fourth-place finishes, marking the first time in school history that a Ranger team has won three consecutive state tournament trophies in any sport.
“I just enjoyed my teammates and how much success we had this year,” Rae said.
“This was the best year of my career at Quilcene.
“And even if we faced obstacles, we found a way to get around them and we finished better than we had the last two years.”
Thompson believes inherent talent, movement on her pitches and an improved batting approach all contributed to Rae’s dominance.
“Part of it is natural ability,” Thompson said.
“Part of it is that mindset that when the pressure is on, the bigger the game, the bigger I am.
“You don’t coach that into somebody, you just don’t.”
Rae utilized a fastball and a changeup on the mound, mixing speeds to keep batters off-balance.
“The thing with her pitches was movement,” Thompson said.
“She had good speed, throwing 58 to 60 [miles per hour], but it’s the movement. It just makes her tough.”
Thompson said Rae didn’t need to make too many fixes to her swing, but she was able to cut down on the amount of popup outs she committed early in her career.
“Before, she would chase high pitches and have a long swing with her hands extended,” Thompson said.
“She worked on pitch selection and using a hands-in approach.
“She was able to adjust.”
Rae singled out her performance in an 8-1 victory over Class 2B La Conner as her favorite of the season.
“When we went up to play La Conner, we had some girls missing, they were a bigger school, and we were a little worried on the bus,” Rae said.
There was no need to worry. Rae was up to the task.
She pitched a complete-game five-hitter, striking out a season-high 18, while going 3 for 4 at-bat with a double, a triple and four RBIs.
“We played probably the best game that we had all season against a team that was portrayed as being bigger and better than us,” Rae said.
“That was satisfying.”
Thompson always felt confident sending Rae out to pitch or up to the plate.
“I felt like we were going to win,” Thompson said.
“My coaching instincts told me to give Sammy Rae the ball and get out of the way.”
Rae, Quilcene’s valedictorian with a 3.91 GPA, is set to attend Central Washington University in the fall.
There’s been some communication between Rae and the Wildcats softball program, which competes at the NCAA Division II level.
“They sound interested in having me tryout for a walk-on spot,” Rae said.
“I’d love to keep playing.”
If her final competitive softball experience occurred at the state tournament, Rae went out on a high note.
The final at-bat of her high school career was a double that just missed going over the fence, and her final pitch struck out a Colton batter to clinch the third-place trophy.
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Sports reporter Michael Carman can be contacted at 360-452-2345, ext. 5250 or at mcarman@peninsuladailynews.com.
