Submitted photo – The MIST players and coaches celebrate their tournament championship in Medford.

It’s been a hectic but very successful six-week summer season for the Mad River MIST 18U softball team.

The team, which is made up of past or current players from six of the nine H-DNL programs, traveled to Medford, Ore., to compete in the Bring It On! Tournament and went 7-1 over the four days on their way to winning the championship.

The tourney title was the second of the summer for the local travel club, which began the season with a tournament win at Redding and also placed third at another 16-team tournament.

Overall, the MIST girls were 9-1 in playoff games over the summer and finished with an overall record of 14-4-1.

Former Hoopa standout Tatianna Colegrove, who is coming off an outstanding debut season at the college level playing for Mendocino College, was named tournament MVP after posting five of the MIST’s seven tournament wins in the circle.

Colegrove got the win in relief in an 11-7 victory over North Medford Black in the championship game.

But the MIST players had to battle, overcoming three deficits on their way to the victory.

The Tornadoes struck first and opened up a three-run advantage in the top of the first.

The MIST, however, would respond immediately with four runs in the bottom half of the inning thanks in large part to doubles by Del Norte’s Audrey Phillips and McKinleyville’s Bailee Box.

Phillips would add a second double in the bottom of the third to help tie the game again after the Tornadoes had added two runs in the top half of the inning.

In what was a back-and-forth game, the MIST would retake the lead in the fourth, when Faith Helms led off with a triple and scored moments later on an Olivia Hayes sac fly to right field.

However, the Tornadoes would not go down easily and they added two runs in the fifth to lead again by one, before Colegrove took over in the circle in relief and got three quick outs to help set the stage for an exciting finish.

With time running out and a 90-minute game limit, the MIST bats came alive late to help secure the win.

Submitted photo

The hard-hitting Phillips, who enjoyed an impressive high school season for the Big 5 champion Warriors, hit a booming two-out triple to right field, before back-to-back walks to Jewely Bibancos-Knight and McKennah Sargent loaded the bases. 

Late clutch hits by Olivia Hayes and Myra Hayes would help put the MIST up by four as time expired.

Colegrove also pitched a three-inning no-hitter in a 14-0 win over Southern Oregon Blackout-Lerma in their tournament opener and came within one walk of a shortened perfect game.

Colegrove, who was a community college all-state selection for the Eagles this past spring, also had a three-run home run in that win.

Box also hit a big home run in a 13-4 win over American Mizuno Elite team out of Sacramento in the MIST’s fourth and final pool game, a win that helped secure the top seed for the tournament playoffs.

Sargent, who also is coming off an impressive spring season playing for the Panthers, got the win in that game in the circle, one of two for the tournament.

Colegrove added a second home run in a victory over C-4 out of Redding in the tournament playoffs, while Olivia Hayes had a big bases-clearing double.

Bailey Brown, Diamond Bibancos-Knight and Nallia Meyer each also traveled with the team and had some big contributions over the weekend.