I overheard a couple of younger men talking about softball. It was clear they took it pretty seriously. And I had half an impulse to warn them.

Careful guys, I might have said. Let this become too important to you and you'll remember certain softball games for the rest of your life.

You doubt me? OK, I'll prove it.

At my first newspaper job, I was on the company slow-pitch team. We weren't loaded with great players, so I was the shortstop. Until, that is, a woman in the ad department started dating this guy named Chuck Heater.

Chuck, who I recall being a nice guy, had been a running back at the University of Michigan about five years before. There was no doubt he was the superior athlete. So I moved to third base.

In our big grudge-match game with the local police department's team, we were down a run in our last at-bat.

Another home run by Chuck could do it for us.

But I hit a line drive right at someone for our last out. Chuck, who batted right after me, never got to come up.

That was more than 30 years ago. And I still remember.

Near perfection met perfection Saturday afternoon. Lake City sophomore pitcher Casey Stangel no-hit Timberline for 6 2/3 innings as the Timberwolves shut out the Wolves of Boise 2-0 in the State 5A softball tournament championship game that started at Post Falls and ended at Lake City. Stangel handcuffed Timberline, coming within an out of a no-hitter. But what was most important to her was the ending – LC finished the season 26-0. “It’s OK,” Stangel said. “I didn’t need a no-hitter. It’s a team win.” In the game for third place, Centennial handled Mountain View 9-4. In the game for fourth, Rocky Mountain outlasted Coeur d’Alene 5-3 in eight innings/Greg Lee, SR. More here.

Also: Timberlake girls capture state 3A track title/Jordan Rodriguez, special to the SR

Here are our prep baseball and softball notebooks.

BASEBALL: Ferris coach Jim Sharkey (pictured above) pulls rare double duty.

SOFTBALL: Shadle Park benefits from transfers, fresh arms.

Here are Friday’s state tournament results and Saturday’s schedule.

University softball coach Jon Schuh enjoys coaching girls for many reasons. One of those reasons was quite evident Friday when the State 4A softball tournament in Tacoma was postponed.

Click here for the story and here for the revised 4A bracket and revised 3A bracket.

Here’s a interesting softball story from The Seattle Times by Sandy Ringer about outstanding Kennedy catcher Lindsy Dugan, who, beginning at age 12, contracted Alopecia Areata, which causes total baldness.

Kennedy, the defending State 3A champions are ranked sixth in state in a poll compiled by Ringer. University is ranked third in 4A and Shadle Park seventh in 3A.

Took a departure from the norm to watch Inland Empire League softball yesterday. While it’s difficult to compare, teams from Lake City and Coeur d’Alene doubleheader seemed a little stronger than what I’ve witnessed in the Greater Spokane League. Maybe it was because of my unfamiliarity with them or that I was comparing two teams to the GSL as a whole. The teams had quite a few senior players and it appeared the pitchers threw a tad harder. That said, they were heavily into rise balls.

The Timberwolves Lela Work is headed to Boise State and Vikings Amber Coburn to Delaware State. Also headed to Boise is Viking shortstop Jessica Kraft.

When I did my Greater Spokane League softball preview this week, the thesis was, what with two-time Washington Gatorade Player of the Year Samantha Skillingstad and Kelsie Vallies graduated, had a pitching era come to an end?

The GSL swept all four state team berths back in 1998 and over 11 years the league averaged 2.5 teams to state behind an array of pitching, peaking between 2003 and 2008 with two state titles (U-Hi and Shadle), two seconds (The Highlanders) and two fourths (Shadle and North Central).

Will this year be different? Mead and Central Valley, pre-season favorites, opened the season with shutout wins.

What are your thoughts?