Mountainside senior Jojo Appling has a 0.46 ERA and is batting .380 with three homers and 21 RBIs. (Photo by Steve Dipaola)

As the coach of five state finals teams during her tenure at Glencoe – including the 6A champion in 2010 – Mountainside coach Jacy Jukkala knows a special team when she sees one.

And even she admits to being a bit surprised this season by her Mavericks, who ran the table in the 6A Metro League to win their first league title since she started the program in 2019.

“I definitely didn't see us winning Metro,” Jukkala said. “Looking on paper at different squads, there are teams that I thought would have more success than us. But the fact that our girls gelled together at the right time was pretty cool to see.”

Mountainside (22-4, 12-0), No. 6 in the OSAAtoday 6A coaches poll, has held opponents to a 6A-low 35 runs, with only 18 of them earned. No. 7 McNary is the next closest team at 54.

The Mavericks are shutting down foes with the 1-2 punch of senior pitchers Jojo Appling and Skylar Hins, who have committed to play in college at St. Martin's and Chapman, respectively. In 78 2/3 innings, Appling has allowed 34 hits, stuck out 133, walked 11 and has an ERA of 0.46. In 75 2/3 innings, Hins has given up 44 hits, fanned 107, walked 32 and carries a 1.48 ERA.

“I knew we had good pitching, but I didn't realize it would be this good,” Jukkala said. “I knew they were tough, college-level athletes, but both of them have been outstanding. That's probably been the most impressive part, those two and what they've done, and brought us together.”

Appling and Hins have been particularly stingy in the Metro, yielding nine runs in 12 games. Appling has shown flashes of dominance in past seasons, but it's the improvement of Hins that has provided a boost.

“She's really matured over the last three years,” Jukkala said of Hins. “She's so much more effective because she's so much more confident. She's been hurt off and on over the last three years. This is the first time she's truly not been hurt. We got to see what she can do when she's feeling good.”

The play of freshman catcher Tenley Jukkala, the coach's daughter, also has been integral. She has called every pitch in every game this season.

“I give her props for coming in as a freshman and having the maturity and game IQ to get to know those two and what they like to throw,” the coach said of her daughter, who also has been a key part of the offense, batting .440 with three home runs and 32 RBIs.

The top of the order – senior shortstop Natalie Kawaguchi (.368), Jukkala and sophomore second baseman Libby Wilson (.311, 17 RBIs) – uses speed to create havoc on the basepaths. They set the table for senior first baseman Olivia Patterson (.397, two home runs, 34 RBIs) and Appling (.380, three home runs, 21 RBIs).

Mountainside returned six starters from last year's team, which went 16-11 and lost in the 6A first round, but absorbed a blow when sophomore slugger Alix Penning went down with a season-ending torn ACL in the week before tryouts.

“That was a huge loss for us,” Jacy Jukkala said. “It was like, 'OK, let's go back to the drawing board.'”

The Mavericks have produced in key situations. They had three one-run wins in Metro games, two against No. 10 Sunset (19-8, 9-3) and one against No. 9 Jesuit (16-11, 8-4).

Mountainside has lost to No. 3 Forest Grove 4-1, No. 7 McNary 2-1, No. 1 Sherwood 5-3 and No. 5 Glencoe 9-8. After the Glencoe game – when they committed 12 errors and allowed eight unearned runs – the Mavericks sorted out their lineup and have won 13 in a row.

Now they turn their attention to the 6A playoffs. They have never made the quarterfinals, losing in the second round in 2019, 2022 and 2023.

“I think we're going to stick with what's worked for us, and that's not looking ahead too much,” Jacy Jukkala said. “Hopefully that takes us through a couple.”

Highlights from the past week:

In a rematch of last year's 6A final Tuesday, reigning champion and top-ranked Sherwood rolled to a 12-1 win at No. 8 North Medford. The Bowmen got home runs from seniors Jordyn Henderson (2 for 4, four RBIs), Hollie Maughan (3 for 4, two RBIs) and Penny Brown (1 for 1, two RBIs). Sophomore Presley Sarono-Ramos pitched five innings, allowed four hits, fanned seven and walked none to earn the win. … No. 3 Forest Grove rallied from a 4-0 deficit in the sixth inning to defeat No. 4 West Salem 5-4 in a 6A nonleague game Wednesday. The host Vikings pulled within 4-3 in the bottom of the sixth when freshman Grace Arruda hit a two-run triple and scored on an error. In the bottom of the seventh, junior Kenley Wright tied it 4-4 on a groundout with one out and Arruda followed with a walk-off RBI single. Junior Kherington Wright pitched a six-hitter with eight strikeouts for Forest Grove. West Salem senior Aubrey Peil hit two homers and drove in three runs. …

No. 6 Wilsonville (20-6, 14-1) pulled into a first-place tie with No. 8 Canby (19-7, 14-1) in the 5A Northwest Oregon Conference with a 3-0 road win over the Cougars on Wednesday. The teams will meet again for the conference title Friday in the regular-season finale at Wilsonville. In Wednesday's game, Wildcats junior Shae Seber went 3 for 3 with a double and two RBIs and sophomore Addi Smith tossed a four-hitter with 15 strikeouts and no walks. It was Wilsonville's seventh consecutive shutout. … Caldera, No. 1 in the OSAAtoday 5A coaches poll, wrapped up the outright Intermountain Conference title with two wins this week, the first conference title in the program's four-year history. The Wolfpack (25-1, 17-1) came back after trailing 5-1 in the third inning to win 12-10 at Crook County on Tuesday, getting home runs from freshmen Aubrey Hall (3 for 4, two RBIs) and Makenzie Guerin (2 for 5, RBI) and junior Brooke Chapin (1 for 2, three RBIs). In a 7-6 home win over Mountain View on Wednesday, Guerin went 3 for 4 with a triple and three RBIs. …

Vale (25-0), the top team in the 3A coaches poll, remains the state's only unbeaten team after scoring three runs in the seventh inning to win at 2A/1A Grant Union/Prairie City 5-2 on Tuesday. Sophomore Sadie Blake put her team ahead 3-2 with an RBI single and junior Teagan Stokes added a two-run homer. The Vikings can complete an unbeaten regular season Thursday at home against 2A/1A No. 1 Weston-McEwen.