GSL goes 0-3 at softball regional
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• Here's the story ...
Mead High softball coach John Barrington had a succinct description of the Greater Spokane League's performance in the first day of the 4A East Regional at University High on Friday.
"It was gross," the veteran coach said.
And unproductive.
The three GSL representatives – district top seed University, regular season champion Mead and Gonzaga Prep – were 0-3 against their Columbia Basin Big Nine opponents. They were outscored 25-5, made six errors, never led and enter today's second day facing elimination.
In fact either U-Hi, which made three errors in a 9-0 loss to Southridge, or Gonzaga Prep, which had just one hit off Walla Walla's Alyson Ambler in a 7-0 defeat, will be eliminated when they meet in a noon, loser-out game. Mead, which gave up five runs in the final two innings of a 9-5 loss to Wenatchee, faces the lone CBBN team to lose, Kamiakin, which fell 6-3 to Richland, also at noon.
The four Big Nine winners meet today at 10 a.m. with the winners moving on to the State 4A Tournament next week in Tacoma. The losers will face the noon survivors in winner-to-state games.
Wenatchee 9, Mead 5: The Panthers broke their huddle before the bottom of the first with a cry of "score first." And they had a shot, but leadoff hitter Emma Barrington was gunned down at the plate by leftfielder Kailey Franklin to end the inning, with Barrington injuring her right shoulder in the process.
Wenatchee (13-10) then took control in the top of the third, sending 10 hitters to the plate and scoring four times, the final two unearned after the first of three Mead errors.
Mead (18-5) battled back with a run in the bottom of the inning on Jill Pecka's RBI single, two more thanks to a wild pitch on a strike out in the fourth and an unearned run in the fifth.
But Amanda Roy's two-run single put Wenatchee back in front in the sixth and the Panthers salted the game away with three more runs in the seventh.
"These guys were just scrappy," an admiring Barrington said of Wenatchee. "I think they are kind of a little bit like us. They've got more speed on the basepaths, but they don't dominate from the circle, so the ball can be put in play. But they made great plays on the left side of the infield all day."
And pushed Mead into the elimination bracket.
"We need to get on a roll (today) at noon, play a really good game and take that momentum into the 2 o'clock game," Barrington said.
Southridge 9, U-Hi 0: The Suns' Allyx Copeland showed in the first inning why she was the CBBN Columbia Division offensive player of the year.
With two outs, the sophomore first baseman singled sharply through the hole to right. On a 1-0 pitch to Michaella Smith, Copeland was off and, when Smith smoked a drive to the fence in left-center, the Suns were up 1-0.
From there Southridge (19-6) just kept adding on, scoring an unearned run in the third, another two-out run in the fourth and putting the game away with four more in sixth, capped by Copeland's two-run double.
Lefthander Caitlin Klepper needed only the first run, though, blanking the Titans (16-6) on four hits while striking out eight and walking none. Heather Worley, Copeland and Klepper had almost as many hits as U-Hi, with each collecting three.
"Of the left-handers we've faced this year, she's probably thrown the hardest," U-Hi coach Jon Schuh said of Klepper. "But I don't think we had a very good mental approach today hitting, pitching or fielding."
Walla Walla 7, Gonzaga Prep 0: The Blue Devils (23-1) snapped their only losing "streak" of the season – they lost to Richland 2-1 in the district finals last week – and showed why they've been ranked No. 1 in the state much of the year.
Walla Walla broke up a scoreless tie in the bottom of the third, using a single and two bunts to put the first run on the board, then pushing across three more before the Pups (12-11) could get off the field.
That was enough for Amber, as the sophomore limited G-Prep to Julia Rambo's single.
Richland 6, Kamiakin 3: Lindsey Walchli scattered eight hits after the Bombers (18-6) scored all their runs in the first three innings. Kamiakin (15-10) helped the Richland cause by committing four errors.
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• That's it for today. The regional continues tomorrow and we'll be there ...
