Spokane Squad Takes National Softball Title
Because softball is alive and very well in the Inland Northwest, one has to look no farther than Spokane to find the new Coed National Slowpitch Softball champions.
Spaghetti Station destroyed pretournament favorite Action Awards/TPS of Atlanta 24-12 Sunday at Memorial Field behind a great team effort that saw every player produce runs in the middle innings. As a result, the 12-run mercy rule ended the tournament’s championship game in the bottom of the sixth inning.
“This is the ultimate high that a softball player can have,” said Spaghetti Station pitcher Mike Olson. “It took a perfect game to beat Action Awards and we did it.”
Spaghetti Station, the tournament’s last unbeaten team, fell behind 6-0 in the bottom of the second inning, and it looked as if Action Awards might force a second game in the double-elimination event. Then, the Spokane team’s bats got hot.
In the top of the fourth, Spaghetti Station tied the game on a grand-slam homer by Chris Coffield. Mike Reeder followed with a triple and later scored to give Spaghetti Station its first lead, 7-6.
Scott Johnson, the catalyst in Action Awards’ offense throughout the tournament, hit a two-run homer in the bottom of the fourth to put his team back on top 8-7.
However, in the top of the fifth, Spaghetti Station broke the game open by scoring eight runs.
The outburst included the first of Reeder’s two three-run home runs and a two-run shot by tournament batting titlist Tim Floyd, who hit .851 and won men’s MVP honors.
The women’s MVP award went to teammate Elaina Bohlman, who had an incredible defensive tournament at third base and a high onbase percentage at the plate.
Area first-team members of the tournament’s All-America team include Olson, Floyd, Reeder and Palmer of Spaghetti Station, Tom Shanholtzer and Shari Manikowski of Pyramid, Jeff Andrews of Crickets and Tracy Matheny of D and K Logging.
Spaghetti Station’s Del Sanders was named outstanding coach.
Sports Cellar of Post Falls, Idaho, finished third.
Men’s Soccer
Jeff McAllister scored two goals and assisted on another and Ben Cater had a goal and an assist as Gonzaga University scored three second-half goals to down Central Washington University 3-0 in a non-conference match at Gonzaga’s Martin Field.
The win was the fourth straight for the Bulldogs (4-2-1), who reached the four-victory mark for the first time since 1993.
Women’s Soccer
Kerry Steele’s lob shot over the head of keeper Sara Kinsky at 97:30 proved to be the difference as Central Washington defeated Gonzaga 3-2 in overtime in a non-conference match at Martin Field.
After 120 minutes of physical play that included 44 fouls and two yellow cards, Washington State University and University of Montana finished in a 0-0 tie at Pullman.
Bowling
Kathy Thomas of Spokane earned $325 for finishing sixth in the seventh Westside Lanes Open Tournament in Olympia. Thomas felled 4,924 pins and finished with an 8-4 record in the finals.
, DataTimes