Three’s still great

Reaching one state tournament is a goal for most prep athletes.

Two is something that can only be dreamt about.

Three is just tilting at windmills.

But, for University High shortstop Angie Boardman, there probably should have been four.

Before ninth-graders moved into the high schools of the Central Valley School District, they were not allowed to play on some of the high school teams, softball among them. That probably cost Boardman a state trip.

“She probably would have been playing with us,” U-Hi coach Jon Schuh said. “I don’t think she would have been in the infield, but she definitely would have been in the outfield.”

But regrets are not in Boardman’s nature.

“It would have been so cool,” Boardman said of four trips before talking about the bright side. “That’s OK, because my first trip to state was winning state. That was pretty awesome.”

The Titans won the 2003 state title, the first softball crown for a Greater Spokane League school. It was a learning experience for Boardman, who was the Titans’ starting second baseman.

“As the years have gone on, I’ve realized how great of a team we had,” Boardman said, “and how much the seniors did do on the team. It’s been hard to be the senior this year, to be in charge of stuff and to be the one leading the team.”

U-Hi is making its 10th consecutive appearance in the state tournament, joined this year by GSL champion Shadle Park and Mead, back for the second straight year.

A big reason the Titans are headed to Tacoma is Boardman.

“She’s our leader,” Schuh said. “She’s the one that’s always talking and she leads by example. She typically practices extremely hard. That’s what you want a senior, three-year starter to do.”

“I’m the loudest one on the field,” Boardman said of her role. “I’m always yelling at people to keep talking.”

Softball is the only sport in which Boardman can be a leader, because it is the only sport she plays. Growing up in Southern California, softball was a year-round sport for her starting in grammar school.

When she moved to Spokane prior to seventh grade, she just kept playing – and hitting.

The senior, who is dreading the end of her high school career, hit .554 in GSL play (second in league) with team highs in runs batted in (20), runs (25) and doubles (a GSL-leading nine).

“She’s in the three hole (in the lineup), and she’s pretty much been in either the three or four hole since she’s been at U-Hi,” Schuh said. “That’s where you typically hit your strongest all-around hitter.”

Or the one who has played at state before – and before – and could have been there even more.