Crush ’97 second in tournament

There was good news, and, well, not exactly bad news, but … oh, you decide, for the Coeur d’Alene Crush ’97 girls fastpitch softball team in the ASA 14-U B West National Championship tournament last weekend at the Merkel Sports Complex.

The good news: Crush ’97 won its first five games before falling into the loser’s bracket. And a 9-0 triumph over West Grove, Calif., Insidious in the third-place game advanced Coeur d’Alene into the championship game.

Still good news: Crush ’97 scored the first run of the week against unbeaten Arcadia, Calif., during the double-elimination portion of the tournament on Olivia Owens’ second-inning triple and took a 1-0 lead in the title game.

The not-so-good news (OK, we decided for you): Catcher Elise McCarthy hit two home runs, a two-run shot in the third inning pulling the Californians into the lead, and they went on to win the West National title 3-2 on Saturday.

Coeur d’Alene, coached by Travis Smith, scored a second, unearned, run on Arcadia errors in the sixth.

Arcadia went 7-0 in the tournament, allowing just five runs. Coeur d’Alene, with a 1-1 record in pool play, finished 7-3.

• Two of the eight Spokane teams in the 44-team tournament had top-10 finishes - Spokane Crash ’96 (5-2 overall) and Spokane Scream (4-3) tying for seventh. Spokane Diamonds (3-4), matching Crash ’96 and Scream with 3-2 records in bracket play, tied for 13th.

Other Spokane and North Idaho teams with their combined pool- and bracket-play records: Northwest Wildfire (3-3), Northwest Ladies (2-3), Spokane Crash ’98 (1-3), Spokane Stealth (1-3), Spokane Dawgs (0-4) and Spokane Sting (0-4).

Golf

Sierra Bezdicek of Colbert, Wash., and her sister Savana qualified for the 16-player Championship Flight of the 56th Pacific Northwest Junior Girls Amateur Championship at Arrowhead Golf Club in Molalla, Ore.

Sierra placed seventh after shooting 2-over-par 74, while Savana finished in a five-way tie for 13th with a 79.

Ju Hee Lee of Wilsonville, Ore., was medalist with a 4-under 68.

Match play begins today.

Wrestling

Blake Beard of Central Valley competed at the Cadet and Junior Freestyle and Greco championships in Fargo, N.D. His name was inadvertently omitted from the list published last week.

Also, Ron Beard, an assistant coach at CV, coached at the national tourney.