U-Hi Earns Fourth Straight Title

High school softball

Megan Owen pitched a two-hitter Friday and University clinched the Greater Spokane League softball title outright with a 3-0 win over visiting Mead.

Owen (12-1) struck out eight to help the Titans (18-1, 16-1) to their fourth consecutive league championship and fifth in six years.

Kara Jordan had two RBIs for U-Hi, which has an opening-round bye to the District 8 4A tournament and an automatic berth in the Region IV tourney.

Mead (8-11, 7-10) will be the No. 6 seed to district. The Panthers will open district at 3:45 p.m. Thursday against the league’s No. 3 seed.

Also in the GSL, Rebecca Dollar’s two-run double highlighted a five-run sixth as Gonzaga Prep (5-14, 5-12) defeated visiting North Central 9-0.

Erin Naccarato was 2 for 3 and Kristy Thorne struck out four for the Bullpups. The Indians (0-17) had four singles.

Annie Boyd’s two-run double in the seventh gave Ferris (5-14, 3-14) a 6-5 win over visiting Mt. Spokane (4-14, 4-13).

Justine Ruddell was 3 for 3 with two runs for the Saxons, who snapped a seven-game losing streak. Mt. Spokane’s Terah Summers was 2 for 4 with two runs.

Lewis and Clark’s game at Central Valley was postponed until today to avoid prom conflicts.

Kira Bliss pitched one-hit ball for five innings, striking out five and walking none, as Cheney (8-10, 3-6) defeated visiting Clarkston 21-0 in the first game of a doubleheader that ended the Frontier League’s regular season.

Clarkston (3-17, 1-8) rebounded to win the second game 7-1.

Cheney’s Tanya Birchler and Jacquie Maxvill combined for five runs and 6-for-8 hitting in the opener.

Cheney and Clarkston will meet Tuesday in a loser-out opener of the District 7 3A tournament at FL No. 2 West Valley. The winner plays WV (10-8) in a second game Tuesday for a second-round berth against league champion East Valley (17-3).

Brooke Brown pitched a one-hitter and struck out 10 to lead Great Northern League-leading Colville (10-7, 7-0) to a 6-0 win at Colfax (7-7, 3-4).

Christa Stanford had a two-run double and Jamie Entwistle added three hits for the Indians, who lead Freeman by one-half game. Heather Leinweber’s single in the sixth broke up Brown’s no-hit bid.

Freeman (13-3, 7-1) kept on Colville’s heels with a 12-1 win over visiting Lakeside (1-13, 0-8) that featured Leslie White’s grand slam and one-hit pitching.

White (11-2), who struck out seven, allowed just Katie Neuchterlein’s single. Freeman’s Deanne Friche doubled and had four RBIs.

Rachael Kinservik of Kettle Falls (11-5, 6-3) also pitched a one-hitter during a 10-0 win at Chewelah (3-10, 2-6).

Chas Utter and Kim Marcum had two RBIs apiece to support Kinservik, who struck out eight and walked one.

Susie Sheffler doubled and tripled, and visiting Garfield-Palouse defeated Colton 9-2 to cap its Whitman County League title.

Gar-Pal (16-3, 14-1), the defending State B champion, receives a bye in the opening round of the Whitman County tournament and an automatic berth to the District 9 B tournament.

The league tournament opens Friday with a pair of loser-out games at Rosalia. No. 6 St. John-Endicott (5-13) plays No. 3 Rosalia (8-10), and No. 5 LaCrosse-Washtucna (8-11) plays No. 4 Colton (7-11).

The tourney then shifts to Garfield a week from today for district seeding games. No. 2 Tekoa-Oakesdale (10-10) joins the field with Gar-Pal.