This spring, Bend High softball must find ways to win differently than it has in previous seasons. Monday’s nonleague finale against West Albany proved just that.

Last year’s Class 5A state champions picked up a 11-10 win in extra innings over the Bulldogs, as freshman Janelle Guiney drove in three runs with a walk-off base-clearing double with two outs in the eighth inning to secure the wild home victory.

“When I saw that pitch coming I knew I was going to hit it,” said Guiney, who was the star pitcher for the Bend North Little League softball team that reached the Little League World Series in 2023. “I thought the (left fielder) was going to catch it, but she didn’t.”

Guiney’s heroics at the plate, a laser hit to left field that rolled all the way to the fence, capped off a thrilling game. The Lava Bears held a five-run lead – aided by a two-run home run in the first inning by junior catcher Mackenzie Shaughnessy – heading into the top of the seventh inning.

But West Albany, a state quarterfinal team a year ago, scored three runs in the top of the eighth inning to take a 10-8 lead. The Lava Bears erased that lead and more to win their third game of the season.

“That is not the way you draw it up,” said second-year Bend coach Carey Shaughnessy. “Going into the seventh with a big lead, then have them tie it up. But the girls just did not quit.”

The win over West Albany (1-6 overall) certainly had a different flavor of a game than the Lava Bears (3-6) have played in recent years. During the run of three-straight Intermountain Conference titles and three state semifinal appearances capped by the program’s first state title last spring, Bend had a cheat code in the pitcher’s circle.

For four years, the Lava Bears had Addisen Fisher, who became the nation’s top high school softball player – three-time state Gatorade Player of the Year and one-time national Gatorade Player of the Year – and is now a starting pitcher for UCLA.

Fisher, along with key pieces to the title team in Jet Hovey and Bryanna Schaefer, have graduated. But with six starters returning from last year’s team, there is talent and championship pedigree still on the roster.

Senior shortstop Isabella Lauerman and sophomore first baseman Cassidy Sandgren are returning first-team players from last year’s All-Intermountain Conference team. And senior Taylor Aldrich was an all-league player as an infielder and a pitcher.

But there haven’t been many games over the years that ended in extra innings with 21 total runs scored. That alone is part of the reason Monday’s game was a gratifying win for the Lava Bears. They rode the rollercoaster and when it looked like they had squandered away a win, they found a way to come out on top.

“We are just working on keeping a positive attitude, keeping our shoulders up and playing like we can to work through it,” said Mackenzie Shaughnessy, who drove in the game-winning runs for the Lava Bears in the state championship game last spring.

“I’m proud of how far everyone has come,” Shaughnessy continued. “We have really taken a step up and done what has been needed to be done. We have to fight more through these games. It is fun to see that spark in these games. I’m excited to see what we can do this season, because we can succeed and we will keep succeeding.”

Since rejoining the IMC in 2023, the Lava Bears have not lost a conference game, winning all 30 games during that stretch. IMC play starts for the Lava Bears next Tuesday against a challenging Caldera squad, which is coming off a state quarterfinal appearance last spring.

The Lava Bears aren’t quite ready to give up their crown just yet.

“We can do it, and that is our goal,” Mackenzie Shaughnessy said. “We have achieved goals here pretty well the past couple of years. And we all want it really bad. “We need to continue to carry ourselves with confidence.”

Added Guiney: “Softball wouldn’t be softball without a little competition.”