Slowpitch Dinosaurs Defend Shrinking Turf

State AA/A softball

Unsuspecting prep softball fans strolling into Franklin Park Friday morning might have felt like they stepped through the cover and into the pages of Michael Crichton’s latest novel, The Lost World.

The creatures inhabiting the barren dirt infields and vast grasslands beyond weren’t as massive or ferocious as those in Crichton’s sequel to Jurrasic Park, but they were, indeed, the dinosaurs of their sport - high school slowpitch players.

Although it remains the game of choice among most B schools, the popularity of slowpitch at the prep level has plummeted since most of the state’s AAA and AA schools adopted fastpitch several years ago.

Since then, the number of AA and A schools playing slowpitch has dwindled to 48, prompting the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association officials to combine the two classes for this year’s state tournament, which is being held in conjuction with the State B slowpitch tournament at the Franklin Park complex.

In addition, the WIAA has limited this year’s State AA-A field to eight teams.

Still, the few that showed up brought their best games and strongest passions with them.

Forget any arguments about slowpitch rules impeding the progress of girls hoping to play fastpitch at the college level.

Most coaches, players and fans defend their game with as much zeal as Iowans once defended the archaic form of 6-girl basketball.

“It’s a great game,” said Royal coach Bill Barker, who brought his Knights to the state tournament for the 14th consecutive year. “It’s a hitter’s game, but it’s also a defensive game. And we teach good fundamentals.

“In fact, the thing I’ve noticed with some of the schools that have gone fastpitch is that their girls don’t get near the number of groundballs or flyballs hit at them as they do in slowpitch, and their defense shows it.”

Barker, who is 229-47 since taking over the program in 1986, said he has had college coaches tell him they would never hesitate to take a player off his team because of the way they learn to play defense.

“They said they can teach people to hit,” Barker added, “but they said if a kid comes into a college program and still doesn’t know how to play defense, it’s too late for them to learn.”

Barker admitted that slowpitch pitchers and catchers are at a huge disadvantage when it comes time to making the jump to college fastpitch. But his top battery mates, Lisa Hanson and Jammie Reese, say they can live with the trials because of the slowpitch success they’ve experienced.

The two seniors were freshmen members of a Royal team that won the state championship in 1993. They finished fourth in 1994 and third last year.

Their dreams of another state title were snuffed out Friday afternoon by an 11-6 second-round loss to Lynden Christian. But both have hopes of playing in college.

Reese, who was recruited to play basketball at Yakima Valley, hopes to walk on to the softball team there. Hanson will attend Central Washington next fall and also hopes to make the softball team, as a walk-on outfielder.

“Going from slowpitch to fastpitch might be kind of hard,” Reese admitted, “but I think it’s a lot easier than going the other way. It might cut down on the recruiting, but we’ve got a great tradition here and I like to win.”

Hanson said she signed up for a fastpitch instructional camp at Moses Lake during her freshman year, hoping to develop the windmill pitching technique.

“But I didn’t know I had to have a catcher with me,” she recalled, “so they gave me a ball and let me go home. They taught me a little, but not enough to learn it.

“I do sometimes (regret) not learning it, because that’s what they play at college. But winning here has been nice, too.”

Despite Friday’s second-round setback and the loss of Hanson, Reese and six other seniors, Barker expects the Knights to return to state next season.

Four of their seven losses this spring came to Yakima Valley League rival and defending state champion Connell, which rolled past Nooksack Valley (9-5) and Quincy (19-3) Friday to earn a spot against Lynden Christians in today’s 1 p.m. title game.

“I honestly feel we have one of the best leagues in the state,” Barker said, “and next year we get three berths. Our whole league has voted unanimously to keep playing slowpitch, and we have no regrets about that whatsoever.”

It’s clear Barker and his Knights don’t consider slowpitch the Lost World in high school softball.

They consider it the Last Word.

, DataTimes