It didn’t end the way they would have liked, but all was far from lost for the St. Helens High School softball team after falling to Astoria 7-0 in the 4A State Softball Championship Game on June 7, at Jane Sanders Stadium in Eugene.

“One thing I said to the girls was don’t be sad, be happy that we made it here and be happy that it happened,” Sharp said. “Because there’s 30 other teams that wish they could’ve made it here and had the type of season we had.”

With that said, the loss to the Fishermen – who finished in second place behind St. Helens in the Cowapa League standings – stung for a number of reasons, and most notably due to denying the Lions their first state softball championship since 1996. But Sharp said what hurt the most was that while they went down fighting, they didn’t do so with their best stuff.

“The hardest part I’d say, is that we just didn’t play our best game,” St. Helens head coach Natasha Sharp said. “We had been on such a good hitting streak, so to have this game be the game where we just couldn’t find our bats made it really tough.”

The game was defined by pitching early on, with both St. Helens’ Eme Curaming and Astoria’s Addie Wilkin stymying opposing hitters to the tune of a scoreless tie through five innings. But that changed in the top half of the sixth when the Fishermen parlayed three singles and a Lyla Carlson double into a four-spot on the board, then added three more in the seventh before putting the Lions down in order to end things in the seventh.

Despite finishing with just two hits, St. Helens had a couple opportunities to strike first in the game, including loading the bases with just one out in the fourth inning. But they failed to capitalize, and rather than draw first blood and put Astoria on their heels, they helped fuel the Fishermen by way of the momentum drawn from keeping the Cowapa League champions off the scoreboard.

“That was a heartcrusher,” Sharp said. “I thought that in any other game, we’re scoring there. We just couldn’t get the ball in play.”

The St. Helens coach pointed to a number of reasons for the defeat, with the primary one being Astoria’s talent. But also leaned on their foe’s intensity, which she said her team simply didn’t match.

“I’m a big believer in energy, and if you don’t bring it you won’t be at your best,” Sharp said. “I feel like Astoria just came with more energy. They came with a chip on their shoulder, and you know, that’s the story.

“I think they had a little bit more fire under them because we beat them for league,” Sharp said. “I’m sure they said, they beat us in league but big whoop, now we get another shot. And they took the shot and they made it count.”

Wilkin was the lynch-pin for Astoria, allowing just two hits while striking out nine despite battling illness.

They also got three hits from Hailey Svensen and a home run from Aryana Adams.

Curaming allowed four earned runs while striking out six for St. Helens.

Addy Ellis and Halli Heys had the Lions’ only hits.

The loss also marked the end for the team’s four seniors, Madelyn Lahey, Michaela Dueck, Erin Moore and Andrea Brooks.

Sharp sang the praises of each following the game, speaking to Madelyn Lahey’s incredible work in the outfield; Michaela Dueck’s impressive move to and work at third base despite having never played the position; Erin Moore’s infectious attitude; and Andrea Brooks’ maturity, along with all four of their leadership skills which they mostly did by example.

“My seniors are a great group of leaders,” Sharp said. “They will definitely be sorely missed.”

The coach added that the group of upperclassmen were key to an unmatched team chemistry that made this year’s team and their season so special.

“Softball is so much bigger than just the sport,” Sharp said. “It’s the friendships you make, the memories you make on the field and off, and it’s the time you spend together day after day. I know they’re proud of themselves and they should be. It was a really great season.”

Undoubtedly, and with a large chunk of the team returning next year, one that Sharp believes will help to inspire the 2026 team to get over the hump.

“With this in our back pocket, we’ll have a little extra fuel,” Sharp said. “Maybe we won’t feel those nerves that we did, and I think it will propel us. We watched Astoria celebrate and get their first place trophy, and that can only fuel you to get better.”

In the end though, 2025 was a success by nearly every metric for St. Helens which needed a little pick-me-up after what’s been a trying year for the school and community off of the playing field, as a result of a sex abuse scandal that rocked the district over the course of the school year. Sharp said that was something on she and her players’ minds when the season started, and a motivating factor for a group that wanted to bring a little positivity back to their community.

“I think it meant everything to have something good happen,” Sharp said. “We’ve been in the news for so much negative stuff, it was great for the town. We talked about that in the first practice about how everyone thinks they know St. Helens, but we were going to show people what we’re about, and the good in this place. And I think we did.”