#StateToTheShow: Sacco-Ferrie's Streak Lifts Cascade To Postseason
July 21, 2026 | Softball
STARKVILLE – It took until the final day of the regular season and then some, but the Portland Cascade have secured the final spot in the 2026 AUSL Playoffs. Sierra Sacco-Ferrie and Mia Davidson's squad will face Mississippi State pitching coach Taryne Mowatt-McKinney's Chicago Bandits bullpen in a one-game playoff for the right to face the No. 1-seed and reigning champion Utah Talons in the championship series.
Entering the final week of the season, Portland needed any combination of three wins or three Oklahoma City Spark losses to clinch a berth, but Peja Goold's Spark put up a fight down the stretch, winning four in a row before losing the final regular-season game league-wide. That contest took an extra day as well after entering a weather delay on Monday night. Goold retired the only batter she faced for the final out before the delay started, but did not return to the circle when the game resumed, and OKC lost in run-rule fashion, 11-1, to eliminate them from the playoff race.
Meanwhile in Portland, Sacco-Ferrie ended the regular-season on a five-game hitting streak and has a hit in nine of her last 11 contests. During the current streak, she is batting .438 with a pair of doubles, three RBIs and seven runs scored. Portland opened the final week with a run-rule victory over Utah on July 15. The Cascade did all their scoring in the 10-2 win in two separate five-run frames. Sacco-Ferrie singled and scored in a five-run third before doubling and scoring in a five-run fifth. The following day she provided a sacrifice fly in the third and walked and scored in the seventh, having a hand in two of Portland's three runs in 4-3 loss. Davidson caught a runner stealing in that game to end the sixth and limit the Talons' scoring to four runs.
In the final series of the year, Sacco-Ferrie opened the game against the Texas Volts with an RBI double as the second batter of the contest. She scored just a few pitches later on a second RBI double, but that would be all of Portland's scoring in the game as Texas won, 7-2. On the Cascade's final day of the regular season, Sacco-Ferrie singled and scored to start a three-run first. She made diving catch in foul ground in the third, and added another single and run in a four-run fourth inning. Davidson walked in the game and later singled home a run as part of that scoring outburst in the fourth frame.
The Cascade and the Bandits will play at 8 p.m. CT on Thursday at Davis Diamond in College Station, Texas, with the game airing on ESPN. The winner opens the three-game championship series against Utah on Saturday, July 25 at noon on ABC. The second game of the championship is set for 1 p.m. on Sunday on ESPN, and the if-necessary game is scheduled for a 6 p.m. first pitch on ESPN2 on Monday. Sacco-Ferrie and Texas A&M's Tori Vidales would become the only two-time AUSL champions if the Cascade won the title after they both played with the 2025 champion Talons before being selected in this year's expansion draft. The Bandits and Talons played in the championship last year.
For more information on the Bulldog softball program, follow on X (formerly Twitter), Facebook and Instagram by searching "HailStateSB."
Entering the final week of the season, Portland needed any combination of three wins or three Oklahoma City Spark losses to clinch a berth, but Peja Goold's Spark put up a fight down the stretch, winning four in a row before losing the final regular-season game league-wide. That contest took an extra day as well after entering a weather delay on Monday night. Goold retired the only batter she faced for the final out before the delay started, but did not return to the circle when the game resumed, and OKC lost in run-rule fashion, 11-1, to eliminate them from the playoff race.
Meanwhile in Portland, Sacco-Ferrie ended the regular-season on a five-game hitting streak and has a hit in nine of her last 11 contests. During the current streak, she is batting .438 with a pair of doubles, three RBIs and seven runs scored. Portland opened the final week with a run-rule victory over Utah on July 15. The Cascade did all their scoring in the 10-2 win in two separate five-run frames. Sacco-Ferrie singled and scored in a five-run third before doubling and scoring in a five-run fifth. The following day she provided a sacrifice fly in the third and walked and scored in the seventh, having a hand in two of Portland's three runs in 4-3 loss. Davidson caught a runner stealing in that game to end the sixth and limit the Talons' scoring to four runs.
In the final series of the year, Sacco-Ferrie opened the game against the Texas Volts with an RBI double as the second batter of the contest. She scored just a few pitches later on a second RBI double, but that would be all of Portland's scoring in the game as Texas won, 7-2. On the Cascade's final day of the regular season, Sacco-Ferrie singled and scored to start a three-run first. She made diving catch in foul ground in the third, and added another single and run in a four-run fourth inning. Davidson walked in the game and later singled home a run as part of that scoring outburst in the fourth frame.
The Cascade and the Bandits will play at 8 p.m. CT on Thursday at Davis Diamond in College Station, Texas, with the game airing on ESPN. The winner opens the three-game championship series against Utah on Saturday, July 25 at noon on ABC. The second game of the championship is set for 1 p.m. on Sunday on ESPN, and the if-necessary game is scheduled for a 6 p.m. first pitch on ESPN2 on Monday. Sacco-Ferrie and Texas A&M's Tori Vidales would become the only two-time AUSL champions if the Cascade won the title after they both played with the 2025 champion Talons before being selected in this year's expansion draft. The Bandits and Talons played in the championship last year.
Bulldogs In The Show
Mia Davidson – Portland Cascade
| Opponent | GP-GS | AVG | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | BB | HBP | SO | SF | SH | SB | OBP | SLG | PO | A | E | FLD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 7/15 – vs. UTA, W, 10-2 (5) | 1-1 | .000 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .500 | .000 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -- |
| 7/16 – vs. UTA, L, 3-4 | 1-1 | .000 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | .000 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 1.000 |
| 7/17 – vs. TEX, L, 2-7 | 1-1 | .000 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .333 | .000 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1.000 |
| 7/18 – vs. TEX, W, 10-1 (5) | 1-1 | 1.000 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1.000 | 1.000 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1.000 |
| Weekly Totals | 4-4 | .143 | 7 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .400 | .143 | 9 | 1 | 0 | 1.000 |
| Season Totals | 16-15 | .114 | 35 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 2 | 3 | 11 | 0 | 1 | 0 | .225 | .200 | 53 | 4 | 0 | 1.000 |
Peja Goold – Oklahoma City Spark
| Opponent | APP-GS | ERA | W-L | CG | SHO | SV | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | 2B | 3B | HR | AB | B/AVG | PO | A | E | FLD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 7/14 – at TEX, W, 7-2 | DNP | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- |
| 7/15 – at TEX, W, 7-2 | DNP | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- |
| 7/18 – at CAR, W, 12-4 (8) | DNP | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- |
| 7/19 – at CAR, W, 6-5 | DNP | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- |
| 7/20 – at CAR, L, 1-11 (5) | 1-0 | 0.00 | -- | -- | -- | -- | 0.1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .000 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -- |
| Weekly Totals | 1-0 | 0.00 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .000 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -- |
| Season Totals | 9-1 | 14.61 | 1-1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7.2 | 17 | 19 | 16 | 6 | 4 | 6 | 0 | 2 | 39 | .436 | 0 | 1 | 1 | .500 |
Sierra Sacco-Ferrie – Portland Cascade
| Opponent | GP-GS | AVG | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | BB | HBP | SO | SF | SH | SB | OBP | SLG | PO | A | E | FLD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 7/15 – vs. UTA, W, 10-2 (5) | 1-1 | .667 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .667 | 1.000 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -- |
| 7/16 – vs. UTA, L, 3-4 | 1-1 | .500 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | .500 | .500 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1.000 |
| 7/17 – vs. TEX, L, 2-7 | 1-1 | .333 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .333 | .667 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1.000 |
| 7/18 – vs. TEX, W, 10-1 (5) | 1-1 | .667 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .667 | .667 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1.000 |
| Weekly Totals | 4-4 | .429 | 14 | 6 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | .438 | .571 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1.000 |
| Season Totals | 19-18 | .298 | 47 | 11 | 14 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 5 | 2 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | .382 | .426 | 26 | 0 | 0 | 1.000 |
For more information on the Bulldog softball program, follow on X (formerly Twitter), Facebook and Instagram by searching "HailStateSB."
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