Ev’S Big Fifth Inning Seals Title
The Frontier League softball race was three innings from a dead heat Wednesday when East Valley’s bats came alive.
The Knights (17-3, 8-1) pieced together six runs on five hits in the fifth inning to defeat visiting West Valley 10-4 and capture their first league title since 1993.
WV (10-8, 6-3) won the first game 6-3 and led the second 4-1 before EV responded. WV had won the last five league titles.
Malea Schumacher was 3 for 5 with two RBIs to back Katie Hirst (7-1) in EV’s league-clinching win.
Leigh Williams won the opener, pitching shutout ball after Hirst’s two-run double in the fifth. WV’s Kristy Alberts tripled and scored twice.
The District 7 3A tournament begins Tuesday at WV. No. 3 Cheney and No. 4 Clarkston play a loserout game for the right to meet WV. Tuesday’s survivor plays at EV on Thursday.
Jessica Murray struck out 11, and Holly Hayden’s two-out, tworun single highlighted a five-run third in Shadle Park’s 7-5 win over visiting Rogers that snapped a second-place tie in the Greater Spokane League.
Shadle (15-3, 13-3) had won 10 of its last 11 games. Rogers (13-4, 12-4) had a six-game winning streak snapped.
Ashley Lynn added two RBIs for Shadle. League hitting leader Courtney Davis was 2 for 4 with two RBIs for Rogers.
Leslie White struck out 11 and hit a solo homer in the second, and visiting Freeman (12-3, 6-1) defeated Riverside 6-0 to tie Pullman for second in the Great Northern League.
White pitched a two-hitter, allowing a single and double to Jaime Darby. Riverside (7-9, 3-5) committed three errors during Freeman’s four-run first.
Colville, the GNL leader at 6-0, plays Pullman on Tuesday.
Baseball
Riverside and Medical Lake both won single games to create a three-way tie for third place in the GNL.
Riverside notched a 14-10 win at Pullman, and ML defeated visiting Chewelah 18-11. Riverside, ML and Pullman are 7-5 in the GNL, one game behind second-place Lakeside.
Brandon Morris hit two-run homers in the first and second to lift Riverside to a 5-0 lead. Pullman trailed 12-1 when Tyler Brown highlighted a five-run fifth with an RBI double.
Riverside has won five straight.
Brent Kaplan was 3 for 3, with three RBIs and four runs, in ML’s win over the Cougars (3-7). Kevin Schmidt added two doubles and three RBIs, and Alexis Alexander hit a two-run homer for the Cardinals. Kevin Olson’s two-run homer in the first led Chewelah to a 3-0 start.
Lind defeated Wilbur-Creston 12-11 in nine innings to knock the Wildcats (7-7) out of the Bi-County League playoff race.
Liberty and Ritzville, both 8-6, tied for third place and will play later this week for the No. 3 seed to the District 7 B tournament. The loser plays a pigtail game against Panorama League No. 5 on Monday to qualify for district.
Davenport and Almira/Coulee-Hartline, both 9-3, play a makeup doubleheader Saturday to determine the Bi-County title.