Bruins’ Washington smiles her way to NCAA regional title

Even shaded by the brim of a visor or beneath a helmet, Kinsley Washington’s smile flashes. According to UCLA softball coach Kelly Inouye-Perez, it’s part of her “swag.”

In the fourth inning, Washington was beaming, and so were her teammates, as she cracked a two-run single that would lead to a 2-1 win over Minnesota as well as the NCAA Los Angeles Regional title.

“I can never take the game too serious, whether we’re playing for a ‘Natty’ or we’re playing a fall ball game against whoever we’re playing,” Washington said.

“There’s a lot of important things in life and yes, winning is important, but I think it’s more about the connections I make with my teammates and try to have that positive atmosphere as well.”

Rachel Garcia hit a single that took a hop towards left field and was able to reach first base, then Maya Brady then hit her seventh double of the season to move her over. Kinsley Right after that, Washington drove in two runs to give the Bruins (44-4) control of the game.

Washington returned to her post at first base in the bottom of the inning and promptly reached and caught a line drive from Katelyn Kammetmuelle for an out.

“Just the talent that I have behind me and behind the plate, when they make great plays it makes me feel very confident in pitching,” Garcia said, “knowing that, obviously, balls are going to get put in plays, but when they make those phenomenal plays, it takes a lot of pressure off me.”

Pitcher Garcia was unflappable in the circle, allowing no runs and one hit getting five strikeouts in 5 1/3 innings. She relieved

Megan Faraimo, who struck out two batters and gave up two hits.

“It’s always fun to work with Megan in the bullpen,” Garcia said. “She’s someone that I went to at the beginning of the season like, hey, I’m coming up to the field early or after practices to just get some cardio in, do you want to come with? She comes with me, she’s not afraid to ask me questions, just someone that puts a lot of hard work into everything.”

After failing to get on base in the first inning, Minnesota’s Megan Dray started off the second inning with a solo home run to give the Gophers (31-13) an early lead.

Garcia came in in relief for Faraimo later in the second and was able to strike out Makenna Partain to get out of the inning.

“It was a gutsy win,” Inouye-Perez said. “In the postseason, it doesn’t matter if you score first or you score later in a ball game. The bottom line is we want to throw the last punch. ”

UCLA now advances to a super regional, where they’ll play Virginia Tech in a best-of-three series.