Lakeland Girls Start State Title Defense In Style

A-2 state softball

Despite sparse clouds and extreme heat, it poured on Buhl High School in the opening round of the State A-2 girls fastpitch softball tournament at Ramsey Park.

Hits, runs and bad luck rained down on the Indians as defending champion Lakeland High easily took a 21-1 victory.

Not only did the Hawks dominate the game, but a miscommunication between the umpires and tourney officials delayed the 10-run mercy rule. Mercifully, the mix-up was fixed in the sixth inning and the game was called.

“Everybody hit the ball well and we seemed really focused all game,” Lakeland coach Danielle Bean said.

Following the Hawks’ victory, Moscow beat South Freemont 6-0 behind a one-hit complete game from Heather Griggs. In the other openers, Bishop Kelly defeated Marsh Valley 3-0 and Middleton stopped Bear Lake 8-4.

Lakeland 21, Buhl 1

The Hawks didn’t score in the first inning, but a six-run second inning was the beginning of a rout. Lakeland starting pitcher Monica Hall (9-2) overwhelmed Buhl, pitching four shutout innings before being relieved by her sister, Tiffany.

At times, it looked like batting practice for the Hawks (17-5 overall) as they took advantage of Buhl (11-16) starter Angie Schroeder’s modified pitching style. Schroeder didn’t take a full wind-up, which led to a great difference in velocity between her and the Halls.

“Pitching has been our Achilles’ heel all season,” Buhl coach Mike Gemar said.

Both Halls helped themselves with three hits.

Lakeland faces Bishop Kelly (22-3) today at noon in the winners bracket. Buhl plays Marsh Valley (19-8) in loser-out play at 10 a.m.

Lakeland 062 391 x - 21 17 1

Buhl 000 010 x - 1 3 4

M. Hall, T. Hall (5) and Tweedy. Schroeder, Krielkamp (4), Schroeder (5) and Kippes. W-M. Hall. L-Schroeder.

HITS: Lakeland-T. Hall 3, Tweedy 3, Angie Carhart, M. Hall 3, McBride 2, Foster, Smith, Reisenhauer 2, Annie Carhart. Buhl- Lemmons, Krielkamp, Scott. 2B-Smith. 3B-Tweedy, Annie Carhart, Scott. HR-McBride.

Moscow 6, South Freemont 0

The Bears were dominant in the field, and adequate at the plate. Griggs (14-4) overpowered South Freemont, and when the Cougars did hit the ball, Moscow’s defense was there.

“We played great defense, but I thought the team looked a little flat at the plate,” Moscow coach Robin Barnes said.

Moscow (20-6) used a two-run home run in the first inning by Kasey Kinziger to take the lead and manufactured four more runs through aggressive baserunning. South Freemont (12-9) starting pitcher Kelli Daw broke up the no-hitter on a single in the fifth inning.

Moscow faces Middleton (13-10) at noon today in the winners bracket. South Freemont plays Bear Lake (19-3) in loser-out play today at 10 a.m.

S. Freemont 000 000 0 - 0 1 2

Moscow 201 030 x - 6 7 1

Griggs and Erin Makus. Daw, Stoddard (6) and Brood. W-Griggs. L-Daw.

HITS: South Freemont-Daw. Moscow-Shupe 2, Kinziger 2, Emy Makus 1, Swank, Barnes. HR-Kinziger.

Middleton 8, Bear Lake 4

Middleton, down 4-2 in the top of the seventh inning, took advantage of three Bear Lake errors in the inning to score six runs.

Middleton 100 001 6 - 8 11 2

Bear Lake 000 202 0 - 4 6 4

Williams and Hopkins. Peterson and Bordick. W - Williams. L-Peterson.

Bishop Kelly 3, Marsh Valley 0

The Knights Kate Connelly allowed just two singles in a complete-game shutout. Heather Gribble and Michelle Chariton both had a pair of hits to lead Bishop Kelly.

Marsh Valley 000 000 0 - 0 2 3

Bishop Kelly 201 000 0 - 3 8 1

Connelly and Miller. Wesser and Aldrich. W-Connelly. L-Miller.