Washington softball senior has thrown six straight no-hitters and holds state home run record
Few athletes in history have been on the kind of roll that Ashley Thompson finds herself in the midst of.
A senior at Connell (Wash.) High, Thompson has thrown six consecutive no-hitters – and seven in the season – in one of the most impressive runs of consecutive pitching starts at any level in baseball or softball history. According to MaxPreps, Thompson is just the third person to toss as many no-hitters back-to-back.
Connell is 13-0, with 10 of those 13 wins coming behind Thompson’s rather prodigious arm. She has thrown 70 innings, allowed a grand total of 8 hits and struck out 172 batters over that period. Thompson’s totals were boosted on Saturday when she threw no-hitters in two consecutive games, both victories against Kiona (Wash.) Benton High. Four of her no-hitters have also been perfect games.
If the BYU signee’s achievements in the circle weren’t impressive enough (and they certainly are), her feats at the plate are equally stunning. The senior is batting .710 with 7 home runs and 32 RBI through Connell’s first 13 games. She’s also homered in four consecutive games, all of which have been her own no-hitters. Her career marks are arguably more stunning, with the senior already holding the state records for home runs in a single season (23) and career (46) and RBI in a career.
And to think: those batting records came with a good half of her senior season still to come.
While Thompson may seem completely untouchable, it’s important to note that Thompson has been beaten … just not very much. She is 72-6 in her four seasons at Connell, and is just 102 strikeouts away from the all-time Washington career high school strikeout mark with 944.
Given that Connell has won the past two straight titles, it seems extremely likely that they’ll be in the driver’s seat to win again, provided Thompson remains healthy. After all, no one appears able to hit her at the moment, no matter who or where she’s playing.
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