Softball season comes to a close

Being No. 2 only means you try harder.

One regular season champion, 10U League unbeaten Arby’s, captured the end-of-season Spokane Valley Girls Softball tournament titles.

The others were Burlington Northern Santa Fe, second seed in the 16U League, Spokane Tire, second in 14U, and Epivot which tied for fourth in the 12U League.

All but Epivot went undefeated during the tournaments that in some instances meant marathon games last weekend during the hottest weather of summer.

16U

Burlington Northern’s “Cardiac Kids” defeated Action Mortgage 14-9 and regular-season champion Conley’s 10-7 in a pair of thrillers before the wheels came off Conley’s season in the second-inning of the title game.

Third was Dana Graphics.

“Every time a team loaded the bases, our girls bore down and figured a way to get out of it,” said BNSF coach Rick Lloyd of his team’s penchant for heart-stopping contests during the team’s 11-2 season.

In the opening tournament win Michelle Lloyd allowed one run in her four innings pitched and Jennifer Lloyd went 5-for-5, nearly hitting one ball over the fence at East Valley.

In game two against Conley’s, Bree Snow went 3-for-4 and turned an unassisted double play in the fourth inning “that took the wind out of their sails,” said Lloyd.

A 16-run second inning led the team to a 23-8 win in the title game, offsetting the work of Ashley Valkenaar, who in two games against BNSF allowed only three runs in six innings of pitching.

During the tournament Jennifer Truesdale hit .687, Jennifer Lloyd .650 and Michelle Lloyd allowed but two runs, striking out 18 in 10 innings.

“The two best teams ended up in the final,” said Rick Lloyd. “The bottom line is these were great kids with great parents who put together three great games. I was lucky to have them for eight weeks.”

Team members, all from Central Valley, are Brittany Lyons, Michelle Lloyd, Jennifer Lloyd, Jennifer Truesdale, Emily Snow, Bree Snow, Amanda Portch, Stephanie Long, Demi Paredes and Tori Nelson.

14U

Spokane Tire won four in a row including a 12-7 victory over regular-season champion Old Country Buffet in the semifinals.

The team opened tournament play Thursday 20-5 over Rent Rite, won twice on Saturday, including 14-3 over Burlington Northern and 12-7 over Old Country Buffet, and on Sunday beat Panther Printing 19-8 for the title.

Having three pitchers was key, said coach Shelly Mackie, and the win over third-place Old Country Buffet, “was our biggest one. That really helped.”

It’s her fourth year coaching, but first title for the WV-area team that finished 12-2.

“We’ve been up there very year but it was the first year we’ve gone through the winner’s bracket and won it all,” said Mackie. “The girls all stepped up and did it as a team.”

Brittany Anderson, Jenna Dunbar, Katie Ellis, Shannon Garbe, Allie Isaac, Stephanie Hjortedal, Jennifer Leckman, Annie Longhofer, Tanya Lund, Camille Mackie, Lindsey Shephard, Jordyn Sodorff, Hannah Urie and Lacey Nordby are the team members.

12U

The story of the tournament was Epivot’s triumph over circumstance to win the 12U championship in two games over Farrell Spray Service.

Nearly as compelling was the fact Reagan Construction, which had won only two regular season games, finished third.

In a tournament where five teams, Epivot included, had been separated by a game, the eventual champions were left with nine players during Sunday’s final day. Gone were some of the team’s key players, including two primary pitchers.

“We have 14 girls on the team,” said coach Lilly Moon by phone from Oklahoma, where her son was playing baseball, “lost two to vacation (for the entire tournament) and three (on Sunday) to faith.”

Still, Epivot, seeded fifth, beat Check Into Cash 23-13, title contender White Elephant 24-5 and Old Country Buffet 23-6.

That set up the three-game series with Farrell Spray Service. Following a three-run win, Epivot lost 17-15. It trailed 13-8 before rallying in the second half of the game 20-16.

“What it was was consistent and selective hitting,” said Moon. “The girls who had to hit got people in.”

Sunday’s iron nine included two, Andrea Fitzsimmons and McKenzie Arnold, who drove in from Girl Scout Camp to be at the games, and Ashley Moon, Jessica Moon, Danielle McCauley, Jessica Williams, Sumiko Chadwell, Sadie Perry and Whitney Hawley. Kara Mitchell, Jamie Sharpe, Rachel Ford, Andrea Malquist and Lindsay Leavitt missed all or part of the playoffs but were integral to the 12-4 championship season. Nearly all attend Horizon Middle School.

“It was just awesome,” said Moon, a first-time coach who said she’s stopping while she’s ahead. “Actually, I wasn’t going to be able to make the tournament, but they were doing so good, I couldn’t let them down.”

10U

Arby’s defeated Burlington Northern, the league’s regular season sixth-place finisher for the 10U title and a perfect 14-0 season.

“Being undefeated is a big deal no matter what age,” said coach Joe Tombari. “I told the girls it’s something they may never encounter again in their lives.”

Arby’s won its season opener by a run, he said, but had little trouble the rest of the year. The closest tournament game was an 11-3 victory over eventual third-place Itron in the tourney semifinals.

The team opened tourney play 23-6 over Bank of Fairfield, beat Burlington Northern 21-9 and, after the semifinal win, beat BNSF again in the finals 20-4.

The junior varsity softball coach at Gonzaga Prep stressed basics, particularly throwing defense and bunting. And he rotated them through different positions, using six pitchers during the year.

“The girls really improved a lot over the year,” Tombari said. “They are all pretty good athletes, listened well and took it to heart.”

Team members from the CV-area team are Sydney Emory, Christie Tombari, Katie Estey, Erin Legel, Chantelle Fitting, Rachel Saxby, Kaitlyn Richardson, Savannah Rutter, Leah Amsden, Kendra Reilly, Taylor Berdar, Bailey Bergdahl, and Maryann Gorka.