CV, LC move on to regional playoffs

Going into the District 8 4A softball playoffs, the Central Valley Bears were the fourth seed out of the American Division of the Greater Spokane League.

In other words, one of the long shots.

Well the Bears are in next week’s regional playoffs following their 7-4 win over Shadle Park on Friday at Whitworth College.

CV joins Friday’s other winner, Lewis and Clark, which earned its regional spot with a 5-2 win in the nightcap over Mt. Spokane, along with division champions Mead and University, who earned spots Thursday.

The other three teams were expected, finishing either one or two in their respective divisions. Central Valley, however, had struggled midway through the season, and came into Friday’s game with an 11-9 record.

In the other dugout was a Shadle Park team that had finished second in the American Division, defeating the Bears twice along the way.

CV broke on top against Shadle pitching ace Stephanie Trudeau (16-6) on Heather Jackson’s first-inning RBI single and run-scoring singles from Whitney McDaniel and Nicole Ridl in the third.

Trudeau, the Greater Spokane League strikeout leader, was pitching with her heart, if not her legs, having suffered a painful toe injury during Thursday’s loss to Mead.

Still, after the Highlanders (16-6) scored single runs in the first, second (Trudeau’s triple the key hit) and fifth, the teams entered the top of the seventh tied at 3.

Mainly because the Bears were getting strong pitching from McDaniel and their defense was spectacular at times.

Shortstop Katie Nauert made a diving stop to take away a hit in the third, and then handled an erratic hop to steal another in the fourth. But the freshman Jackson earned the biggest cheers when she crashed into the fence down the right-field line to snag a foul fly ball in the sixth.

Then the Bears’ hitting took over.

“All year are defense has been our strength,” CV coach Jeff VanHorne said, “and we got hits when we needed them.”

They needed them in the seventh and got six, sending 10 hitters to the plate, scoring four runs and putting the game away. In all, the Bears collected 13 hits, including four doubles.

The Highlanders rallied in the bottom of the inning, bringing the tying run to the plate, but, as she did all game, McDaniel (10-5) got out of the jam.

“The thing I’m most proud about is that at any moment we could have given in,” VanHorne said. “They kept coming back at us. But every time we needed to, we rose to the occasion.”

Then he smiled and reflected on what import the Bears’ first regional berth in his three-year tenure had.

“We’re headed into uncharted territory,” he said.

It’s territory the LC Tigers have covered before, but coach Ross Rhodes wasn’t sure his senior-dominated team would make the trip again.

“I wasn’t sure we would play with enough motivation to get here,” he said, noting the Tigers suffered through injuries early and time away by the seniors for college visits throughout. “We knew if we could get them to play like they should, we would be OK. Being in (districts) helps a lot. They’re coming to play.”

And Katie Wilmoth is coming to pitch.

The senior handcuffed Mt. Spokane (12-9-1) on three hits entering the seventh, moving the ball in and out and keeping the Wildcats off balance.

“We wanted to keep the ball away from their big hitters, and come inside on everyone else,” said Wilmoth (14-8). “That was the game plan. In the seventh, I started trying to strike everyone out.”

By then the Tigers (14-8) had built a 5-0 lead, jumping ahead on Brittany Baxter’s two-run single in the first and adding a run in the second and two more in the fifth.

The Wildcats scored twice in the seventh and had the tying run at the plate, but Wilmoth induced a pop-up – the 11th pop-up or flyball out – to end it.

The Tigers and Bears will meet Tuesday at 3 p.m. at Whitworth for the district’s third and fourth seeds, followed by a 5 p.m. matchup between Mead (19-1-1) and University (19-2) for first and second seeds.