Curlew, Liberty earn way into State B
Top-seeded Curlew of the Panorama League and Liberty of the Bi-County League qualified for the State B softball tournament by winning twice at the District 7 B tournament on Wednesday.
At Curlew, the host Cougars defeated Inchelium 5-4 in a semifinal. In the sixth inning, Brittany Strandberg tied the game at 4 with a run-scoring triple and scored on a passed ball.
At Liberty, Jessica Mangis (10-3) struck out six and pitched a five-hitter as the host Lancers edged Selkirk 1-0 in another semifinal.
When the district tournament picks up on Saturday in Kettle Falls, Curlew (23-2) and Liberty (19-5) will meet at 1:45 p.m. for the title and the top two seeds to the June 3-4 state tournament at Yakima.
Curlew has won 17 consecutive games since an April 14 league doubleheader loss to Inchelium. Liberty is riding a seven-game winning streak.
Elsewhere at the tournament, Curlew opened the day with a 10-2 win over Odessa. Amanda Grumbach (17-1) struck out eight for the Cougars and had two RBIs during a five-run sixth. Strandberg added three RBIs. … Angela Bethel (9-2) pitched a six-hitter and struck out five as Liberty started the day with an 11-4 win over Republic. … Inchelium opened with a 5-1 win over Davenport at Curlew. … At Liberty, senior Jessica Pichette pitched a six-inning two-hitter, striking out eight, and went 2 for 3 to lead Selkirk to an 11-0 win over Almira/Coulee-Hartline. Jen Ostrom added a 2-for-4 day for the Rangers. … At Curlew, Odessa bounced back to notch a 7-5 win over Davenport (15-7) in a loser-out game. Jennie Harp (16-7) struck out eight and Andrea Largent had a two-run double in the third for the Tigers. … At Liberty, Republic used a three-run fourth for a 4-2 win over ACH (10-11) in a loser-out game. … Saturday’s play at Kettle Falls opens at noon with Odessa (16-9) vs. Selkirk (18-4) and Republic (14-12) vs. Inchelium (20-5) in winner-to-state games. The losers will meet at 4:45 for the district’s fifth and final state berth. The district’s No. 1 seed to the 16-team state event will be in opposite brackets from the second and third seeds.