T-Wolves sweep, near title

The Lewiston softball team was three outs away from handing Lake City just its second Inland Empire League loss Friday afternoon.

But the league-leading Timberwolves wiggled off the hook as they rallied to knock off the visiting Bengals 3-2 in the opener of a doubleheader.

Then Lake City moved within a win of clinching the league championship when it shut out Lewiston 5-0, the Timberwolves’ fourth sweep in five doubleheaders.

Lake City (17-2 overall, 11-1 league) needs just one victory in its final four league games to secure the title and top seed to the Region I tournament.

Leading LC’s late rally was the bottom third of its lineup. Jennifer Robertson and Jenna Fordham reached on singles and Annie Chadderdon was hit by a pitch, loading the bases. That brought up leadoff hitter Jamie Hall, who knocked in the tying run with a single. Following a strikeout, freshman Katie Rowe hit a liner to right field for the winning hit.

“I’m extremely proud of the bottom of the lineup,” LC coach Laura Tolzmann said. “They kept fighting and they kept fighting. I told them, ‘You’ve seen her (Lewiston pitcher Jessica Ulrich) enough times. Just get in there and know you can and turn on it.’ They did a very good job.

“They’ve been struggling a little bit lately. I told them as soon as they come around, we’ll be able to go through our lineup over and over. It was nice to see them step up.”

The Bengals (12-8, 7-8) put themselves in good shape in the sixth when they took a 2-1 lead. They also did their damage with two outs. Shaundee Garrett had a double and Ulrich followed with a run-scoring double.

Ulrich and LC pitcher Lela Work battled in a pitching duel in the opener. Work scattered four hits while striking out nine and walking just one. LC got seven hits off Ulrich, who finished with eight strikeouts and two walks.

Both teams went with their No. 2 pitchers to start the second game. But it was evident that Work and Ulrich would ultimately make appearances.

LC jumped on Lewiston for three runs in the first inning. The big hit was a two-run single by Work. Ulrich got the final two outs in the first on strikeouts to limit the damage.

LC’s Kallie Neal gave up a leadoff single in the first inning before retiring the Bengals in order thereafter. But in the second, Neal walked the bases loaded with two outs. Work, who improved to 15-1, entered and got the final out. She allowed just one hit, that coming in the seventh, while striking out seven and walking none.

Jessica Ross led LC with three hits in the second game.

Tolzmann wants to rest Work as much as possible next week should the T-Wolves secure the league title. That means Neal could get several innings in LC’s final four games.

“Hopefully, if we get one more win next week, we’ll give Lela a chance to rest and get ready for (regionals),” Tolzmann said. “We don’t want the league teams to see her anymore than we have to next week because I think it hurt us last year.”

Having an opportunity to clinch the league title next week is important, Tolzmann said, after LC frittered away homefield advantage last year in regionals and failed to qualify for state.

“It’s big,” Tolzmann said. “At the beginning of the season, everybody thought it was going to be a tight league.”