It’s a first: NC softball team going to state
RICHLAND – North Central had never been to a state softball tournament.
Not once in the 14 years the Greater Spokane League has played fastpitch; never in the years before that when the game was slowpitch.
And on Saturday it didn’t appear that streak was in much danger of ending, not with Hanford hanging a seven on the Indians in their first inning of the 3A regional tournament at the Columbia Playfields.
Oh, and did we mention freshman NC pitcher Kelsie Vallies had pneumonia?
Well, Vallies proved to be unflappable and the Indians proved to be quite resilient. They rebounded from that eventual 11-1 shellacking by Hanford, upended Selah 3-1 in a loser-out game, then rallied past West Valley-Yakima 4-2 in a winner-to-state, loser-out game – all under blinding-blue skies and sapping 90-degree temperatures.
“It’s incredible,” said senior shortstop Jamilyn Schibel, who had four hits on the day. “I don’t even have any words to describe it. It’s amazing.”
Just as all the Indians had a hand in the first-game, first-inning disaster (multiple Falcons hits and NC errors and walks), many contributed in the final 14 innings. But it all revolved around Vallies, who was diagnosed with pneumonia Friday afternoon and told not to play.
“I feel great,” said Vallies, who allowed Selah six hits and WV seven with three total walks. “(The first inning) was frustrating but I knew we could come back. A couple of times I got tired but I wasn’t going to let myself get down.”
“I just talked to her,” senior catcher Brianna Scott said. “I had confidence in her. I knew she could do it. … It was her fastball and she hit her spots very well. She had a couple of drop balls and a couple of key sliders.”
NC came back twice against WV, which eliminated Clarkston 2-0 in the day’s first game. The Indians benefited from some questionable base running that saw two Rams thrown out at home in the first inning and one each in the fourth and sixth innings.
Trailing 2-1 going into the bottom of the sixth, No. 9 hitter Jenny Darcy led off with a single, her only hit of the day. She eventually scored on a wild pitch, Alicia Kahler drove in the winning run with a double, her fifth hit of the day, and an insurance run scored on an error.
The Indians (13-10) secured their trip to Tacoma – where they play Black Hills at 9 a.m. Friday at the SERA Fields – when Vallies (9-7) got Lindsey Jones to pop out to second base with two runners in scoring position after Jones had pulled two hard hits foul down the left-field line.
“There’s always a doubt, that’s what fun is about,” veteran NC coach Herm Marshall said. “I’m so proud of the girls. They came back and played so well. There’s no give-up in this group.”
Vallies made two first-inning runs – driven in by Tran Tran, the designated hitter for Vallies – stand up in the win over Selah. The Vikings scored in the bottom of the first on a couple of NC errors, but the freshman remained calm and the defense made plays when needed the rest of the way. Kahler singled in Schibel for an insurance run in the top of the seventh.
It was an amazing day for a freshman pitcher, who picked up a cold from teammates earlier in the week and visited the doctor Friday afternoon.
“He told me not to pitch, not to play at all,” she said. “As soon as he left the room I told my dad I was going to play.”
And the rest is history.