A local girls’ softball team made history recently, and a Valley athlete was a key part of it.

Mount Si High School sophomore Maury Murphy was part of the Northwest Lady Sharks U-14 team, whi finished third after a stellar run at the Colorado Fireworks softball tournament earlier this month.

This finish appears to be the highest ever by a Washington-based U-14 team in the event, which was celebrating its 40th anniversary, and the best finish by any team from this state there in more than ten years. Murphy’s play was a critical part of the success.

“I didn’t have any expectations that we were going to do as well as we did,” team coach Chris Faist said.

Murphy played at several positions during the course of the tournament, which went 11 games over the course of a few days.

“Maura did very well,” Faist said. “She’s one of these kids that I can plug in at any position.”

For Murphy, the accomplishment was special.

“It’s really exciting and it’s really important to me,” she said.

The Lady Sharks’ run started in pool play, where they went 3-1 in a group which included some strong teams from Houston, Tex. and Phoenix, Ariz. The Lady Sharks beat the Phoenix team in the third game after the Arizonans had dominated their competition in their first two games.

This was the first time at the event for the Sharks, but the team was ready. They played against teams of older girls during the season, and finished eighth at a previous tournament in California. All of this preparation proved to be a big factor, Feist said.

“There were no surprises there,” Feist said. “We knew the teams we were going to face were going to be tough.”

“If you play higher up, you’re definitely going to see higher competition,” Murphy added.

The team’s’ playoff run opened with a win over a Pennsylvania team, then the Sharks proceeded to beat a couple more teams from Texas and Arizona and a couple of Northwest teams, before falling twice on Saturday, July 4, to knock them out of the event. The Sharks fell to a Georgia team that went on to win the tournament.

Defense was strong all week, and proved critical.

Murphy said team unity helped give the Lady Sharks their defensive steel.

“I’ve been with some of the girls for three years,” Murphy said. “We just know each other inside and out.”

Faist’s Lady Sharks were not the only team with Valley players in the event; another Lady Sharks U-14 team, the Mako team, with Mount Si pitcher Anisa Wingsness, struggled and finished 62nd. Meanwhile, at the Sparkler, Bellevue’s Eastside Invasion, a U-16 club with Mount Si catcher Carly Weidenbach and infielder Kimber Behrends on their roster, also ran into some tough competition and ended up 121st in that tournament.