With just one pitch left between the Juanita Rebels softball team and the state title, the crowd began chanting “Lets go Rebels”. The Rebels did just that – going all the way as starting pitcher Allison Rhodes threw a final strike out to win the game.

The team won the 3A state softball championship Saturday afternoon in Lacey, beating Bainbridge 6-1. Shortly after the final pitch had been thrown and after the team held the trophy in their hands, senior captain Lexi Faist still couldn’t believe it.

“It feels like a dream,” she said. “It doesn’t feel real. This is awesome. I’m so excited for all of us.”

In their second meeting of the post season, the Rebels dominated from the mound, with Rhodes striking out 10 batters over seven innings.

Juanita started off the afternoon with a 1-0 lead at the end of the first inning, thanks to a run from Lexi Faist. In the second inning the Rebels had two more runs off of three hits to take a commanding early lead.

“The girls stayed real focused and to make those little plays were huge,” said head coach Kristan Dahl. “All game long they made every play that was asked of them and it was great. Bainbridge is a fantastic team and it was an opportunity to come out and prove that we were the best team out here and it was great.”

The Spartans struggled against Rhodes, unable to connect for a base hit until late in the game. By the end of the third the Rebels had added two more runs, followed by a run in the fifth. The Rebels held the 6-0 lead until the bottom of the sixth inning when Bainbridge scored for the 6-1 final score.

The Rebels last faced Bainbridge Island during the district semi-finals when Juanita won 3-0.

“Allison, she took us on her back and carried us through the tournament,” said Dahl of the team’s pitcher. “Offensively we hit the ball really well. We did everything we needed to. When Allison needed run support, we have her run support and that was huge.”

He added that catcher Aliah Sweere was instrumental in the tournament, providing hits and closing the gap for the Rebels.

Earlier in the tournament the Rebels defeated another conference foe, beating Bellevue 7-0 in the state semi-finals on Saturday morning. During that match, Rhodes struck out 12 batters, while allowing three hits and walking three from the Wolverines squad. The day before, the Rebels beat Everett 9-3 to open the tournament.

It was after the win over Bellevue that the team knew they just needed to focus and play their game in the title match.

“We just had to act like it was just another game before we played Bellevue,” said Faist. “We couldn’t assume we were going to win and we just had to play our hearts out and give it our all.”

For a team who came up just short in the last two tournaments, after rocketing through the regular season, the victory meant even more. Dahl said he hoped the team would hold on to the feeling they had Saturday afternoon.

“This is a wonderful feeling and the two years previous we were short,” he said. “Remember what this feels like now, so we remember what this feels like next year. I’m so proud of them. Everyone of them stepped up and did exactly what we asked them to do.”

The Rebels completed the season with a 25-2 record overall, after going undefeated in the KingCo 3A league with a 14-0 record.