With a district title on the line in the biggest game of the season, the star that shone the brightest turned out to be an unassuming first-year varsity player.

Montesano pitcher Reghann Fairbairn had the best game of her young varsity career, throwing a four-hit shutout and smashing a solo home run in Montesano’s 4-0 victory in the 1A District 4 Championship game on Wednesday at Dick Tagman Field in Montesano.

Simply put, the left-hander was brilliant on the mound. Fairbairn kept a prodigious Castle Rock offense off-balance the entire game, utilizing her change-up and riser to scatter five hits while striking out six without walking a batter in picking up the complete-game victory.

“I kind of felt like I had to put out for the seniors because it’s the last game and it meant a lot since we didn’t get a whole season and don’t get to play at state,” Fairbairn said of her mentality going into the game.

RYAN SPARKS | THE DAILY WORLD Montesano pitcher Reghann Fairbairn allowed just four hits in throwing a seven-inning shutout over Castle Rock in the 1A District 4 title game on Wednesday.

On the few occasions Fairbairn got into trouble, she pitched her way out of it and had plenty of help from her defense.

Monte (17-4 overall), playing as the visiting team on their home field, took a 1-0 lead in the top of the first when leadoff hitter Jessica Stanfield reached on an error and later scored on a passed ball.

Castle Rock (9-4) threatened in the third, putting runners on second and third on a single from Kenna Rismeon followed by a double from Rhiannon Sibbett with one out.

Fairbairn induced a ground ball to shortstop Paige Lisherness, who cut down Rismeon at home to preserve Monte’s 1-0 lead.

The threat ended when Fairbairn got Gracie Kimball to ground out to second baseman Cassadie Golding one batter later.

Castle Rock would get a runner on in each of the fourth, fifth and sixth innings, but Fairbairn consistently pitched her way out of jams, mixing her pitches and utilizing the corners to keep the Rockets from making solid contact.

“(The championship game) was Reghann’s best pitching performance of the season,” Pace said, adding both Fairbairn and Riley Timmons excelled in getting the Bulldogs the three wins needed for the title on Wednesday. “Because Riley ended the last game (in the semifinals against Hoquiam) we decided to go with Reghann in this game and it paid off.”

Fairbairn explained she knew she brought her A-game with her in Montesano’s opening round victory earlier in the day, a 14-1 drubbing of Goldendale.

“I kind of felt good and as the third game started I just kept going and felt good,” she said. “My defense was there behind me so I didn’t fall out (of her zone).”

Meanwhile, Montesano’s offense — which pounded eight extra-base hits, including four home runs in a 16-2 semifinal victory over Hoquiam earlier in the day — struggled against Castle Rock starter Payton Kessler.

After Stanfield’s scamper home gave Monte the early lead, Kessler held the Bulldogs scoreless over the next four innings.

In the sixth inning, Monte got a much-needed insurance run when catcher Mikayla Stanfield parked a perfectly-placed bunt single in between three Castle Rock fielders. Jordan Carr, who was aboard with a single and advanced to third on a Golding double, scored on the play for a 2-0 lead.

In the seventh, Monte finally got to Kessler, and it was the Castle Rock right-hander’s counterpart on the mound that did the first bit of damage. Fairbairn led off the inning and belted a home run to center field for a 3-0 lead.

Two batters later, Jessica Stanfield — who was hitless with two strikeouts against Kessler — crushed the first pitch she saw over the right-center field fence for Monte’s second solo shot of the inning and a 4-0 lead.

“I think the competition was the same (as it was in Montesano’s state-clinching victory over Castle Rock in 2019),” Jessica Stanfield said. “They gave us a run for our money.”

That was more than enough run support for Fairbairn, as she pitched a 1-2-3 seventh, getting a fly ball out to right fielder Madi Campbell in foul territory to seal the victory, and the district title in the process.

“Our defense and the infield has been solid all year, it was nice to see our outfield match them these last three games (in Wednesday’s district tournament),” Pace said. “We know we are going to score runs, so I’ve never been nervous about that. What might have been a little frustrating was we were letting some good pitches go by. … But the girls did a great job battling back in the seventh.”

Pace added that with the Monte program being a perennial state champion and qualifier, the district title has become somewhat of an afterthought in years past.

But that wasn’t the case in 2021, as government mandates have made it so that there are no state championship tournaments in Washington, meaning it was a district title or bust for the Bulldogs.

“If we took fourth, third, second or first (in districts) it doesn’t matter so long as we were going to state,” Pace said. “There was a little more importance on this one because we knew there was no second chance for these seniors.”

Carr led an uncharacteristically quiet Monte offense in the title game, going 2-for-3 with a run scored as the only Bulldogs hitter with a multi-hit game.

Sixty-eight of Fairbairn’s 108 pitches were for strikes, including four check-swing foul balls in a masterful performance.

“I think she did awesome, stepping up as a freshman especially,” Jessica Stanfield said. “(Fairbairn) came out ready to play and strike them out and get it done.”

Playing in her last game for the Bulldogs, Stanfield reflected on her seventh-inning bomb in her last high school at-bat before providing her thoughts on what the victory means for her.

“I knew it was my last at-bat and I wanted to end it well,” she said. “I think this is a good way to remember my senior year, even if it was not the normal way we would have it. But it’s an awesome reminder this was a really good team to play with.”

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RYAN SPARKS | THE DAILY WORLD Montesano head coach Pat Pace, foreground, hands the district championship trophy to his team after they defeated Castle Rock 4-0 on Wednesday at Dick Tagman Field in Montesano.