Salmon Bay FC sensationally won the USL W League championship, beating Vermont Green FC in a penalty shootout. In baseball, the Mariners first fell to the Giants 0-7, but then got their revenge with a 4-3 win.
“Salmon Bay”: Seattle club wins national title in its second season
On Saturday evening at Interbay Stadium in Seattle, a full-on football drama unfolded—worthy of a Hollywood script. The local Salmon Bay FC, in a tense USL W League final, came out on top against Vermont Green FC in a post-match penalty shootout, finishing 1-1 (5-4). The triumph came just in the club’s second season, making it especially significant for the entire community.
The match drew a sellout crowd: 2,096 spectators were officially recorded, but plenty of fans watched from nearby—on lounge chairs in the adjacent park, from the parking lot, and even sitting up in trees. The ultras, calling themselves the “Bush Guardians,” helped create a distinctive atmosphere: they positioned themselves right in the shrubbery, and when a goal went in, they released pink smoke. Some visitors from the neighboring Interbay Golf Center even paused their own game to watch the final.
Regular time ended level. In the first half, both teams traded dangerous chances, but the defending and goalkeeping were flawless. Vermont’s goal in the 40th minute was ruled out for offside. The breakthrough came in the 77th minute, when Morgan Manalili, brought on as a substitute, pushed the ball through defenders and sent it into the opponent’s lower-left corner. It was her fourth goal off the bench this season—used by the coaching staff as a “super-sub.” But in the fourth added minute of the second half, Louise Thomsen of Vermont Green FC equalized, sending the match into extra time. It was Salmon Bay’s first conceded goal in the playoffs.
Extra time produced no winner, and the fate of the trophy was decided in the penalty shootout. The hosts’ goalkeeper, Elena Mileam—a Ballard High School graduate—already had experience of successful shootouts this season. The teams each took five kicks, and once again it was level: everyone scored except the second-round penalty takers for each side. When Vermont’s sixth kick sailed over the bar, all the hope fell on 17-year-old Kaye Singh, a student at Kennedy Catholic High School. Her strike proved decisive. As Singh later admitted, she didn’t even realize it was the winning penalty—and she had never taken an 11-meter kick in an official match before. “I’m just very happy,” she added. By the way, the players later opened a bottle of champagne and drank from the trophy, but Singh couldn’t join in—she wasn’t yet of age.
This match was Salmon Bay’s fourth playoff game, and the third that required extra time. Previously, the team had also beaten Colorado Storm and Minnesota Aurora via penalties. Club president and co-founder Sam Zizett said his phone had been buzzing nonstop with congratulations, but he was on edge—his wife is pregnant with their second child and had already passed the due date by five days. Barely holding back his emotions, he described the win as a reflection of the club and community spirit: “This match on and off the field showed what our club is. The fan support that pours their souls into the players, and the players themselves fighting until the very last second—everything up to the fifth penalty is something special.”
For context: the USL W League is the United States’ second-tier women’s soccer league, created to develop talent and prepare players for higher divisions. Salmon Bay (“Salmon Bay”), nicknamed “Kyo” (chinook salmon), is a young team formed through the efforts of local enthusiasts. Its run to the championship—packed with dramatic penalty shootouts—became a real sensation in Seattle. As noted in a report by The Seattle Times, the achievement shows that even in a fiercely competitive environment, a small team with strong community backing can reach the top. Next for Salmon Bay is strengthening the roster and possibly moving up a level, but for now they can enjoy the moment: their soccer, mixed with the spirit of the streets and the bushes, has won over the hearts of fans.
Adamés grand slam and Rupp’s power pitching: Giants thrash Mariners 7-0 after the All-Star break
The first game after the All-Star break turned into a showcase for the San Francisco Giants—they left no stone unturned against the Seattle Mariners’ defense, cruising to a 7-0 shutout. Played on Friday in Seattle, the matchup highlighted not only the visitors’ attacking strength, but also the dominance of their pitcher, Landen Rupp, who threw seven effective innings and gave the opponent no real chance at all. For those not familiar with baseball terminology, a grand slam is a home run hit when all three bases are loaded, earning four runs at once. That’s exactly what Willie Adames did in the seventh inning, hitting a slider from Mariners reliever Nick Davila and sending the ball out of the park into right-center. The grand slam was Adames’ seventh of his career and second of the season—his first came on May 31.
However, the key moment wasn’t only the final flourish. In the fifth inning, with two outs, the young Bryce Eldridge launched a towering drive to center field that flew right over a leaping Victor Robles. The home run gave the Giants two runs and marked Eldridge’s ninth of the season. Notably, Robles started at center field in place of the injured Julio Rodriguez, who was expected to return to the lineup as early as Saturday. In the sixth inning, San Francisco added another run: with runners on and two outs, Lewis Arraez knocked the ball toward second base, but the second baseman Cole Young made a costly mistake, failing to field the ball cleanly. That miscue allowed the visitors to extend the lead to three runs, and then Adames effectively put the game away.
Against Rupp, the Mariners looked completely helpless. Up until the fourth inning, they had not recorded a single hit—Josh Naylor broke the silence with a single. As noted, Rupp was also strong in his previous start: on July 6 he threw eight innings in a win for the Giants against Toronto (10-1). His steady performance against the backdrop of Seattle’s slump is especially striking: the Mariners lost six of their last seven games and dropped to two games below the 50% win mark. They finished this match with only two hits. Before the game, the Giants activated catcher Daniel Susac from the 10-day injured list and passed on Eric Haase, sending him to the waiver/assignment procedure.
The next game in the series will be on Saturday: Seattle will send right-hander Bryan Woo (7-6, ERA 4.23) to the mound, while San Francisco counters with Logan Webb (5-7, 3.86). ERA (Earned Run Average) is the average number of earned runs a pitcher allows over nine innings; the lower the number, the more effective the pitcher. In this case, Webb’s ERA is better, but Woo has more wins. The matchup promises to be tight, especially as the Mariners desperately need to turn the slide, while the Giants have hit their stride. As the article notes, a full recap of the game is available on ESPN.
Seattle Mariners end losing streak with gritty win over San Francisco Giants
The Seattle Mariners’ season has been uneven—flashes of brilliant play followed by long offensive slumps. After the All-Star break, the team clearly struggled to score, and the first game of the second half threatened to turn into yet another disappointment. But the matchup against the San Francisco Giants at Oracle Park delivered the breakthrough they’d been waiting for. As reported by Yahoo Sports, the Mariners secured a gritty 4-3 win by turning the game around in the late innings. This wasn’t just the team’s first victory of the second half—it was also an important psychological signal: the team can steal wins even when the offense has been quiet for a long time.
The Mariners’ biggest problem in recent games has been the so-called “offensive woes”—a chronic inability to put runs on the board at key moments. In baseball, that term refers to the situation where hitters regularly fail to move runners along, even when they’re in favorable positions. Against the Giants, it showed especially sharply: for much of the game, the Mariners couldn’t break through the opponent’s defense and got stuck at one or two runs earned. But in the end, the team managed to regroup and cash in on the moments that mattered. According to the stats, the key stretch was the bottom of the eighth inning, when Seattle pulled out two decisive runs. For context: in baseball, a run (run) is the point a team scores when a player completes all four bases and returns to home plate. Each such burst requires coordinated work from both hitters and baserunners.
A 4-3 win is a typical “low-scoring” game, where a lot comes down to pitcher quality and good fortune at the plate. The Seattle Mariners have long been known for their starting pitching, but hitting issues have been dragging the team down the standings. Now, after a gritty win, the coaching staff is hoping that momentum carries over into the next games. In particular, the “late-game surge” matters—an ability to crank up the tempo in the seventh through ninth innings, when the opponent tires and the bullpen starts making mistakes. It was that skill, ultimately, that brought the Mariners their first win of the second half and gave fans hope that the offensive crisis has been overcome. Analysts note that if the team can carry this mindset into the remaining games, it may well be able to battle for a playoff spot, even though the competition in the American League remains fierce.
