Triumphant Trojans discover path to state tourney
All together now, Post Falls fans – whew!
The Trojans finally broke the hex at the 4A Region I softball tournament, exploding for 11 runs in the fourth inning of a 13-1 rout of Moscow in the championship game Tuesday at PF High.
In addition to removing a major league monkey from its back, No. 1 seed Post Falls (19-5) also earned the pleasure of advancing to the State 4A tournament, May 18-20 in Pocatello.
In other regional action, No. 2 Lakeland stayed alive with a 12-2 win over Sandpoint (2-23) in a loser-out game.
The Hawks (9-15) host Moscow (9-15) at 4 p.m. Thursday at Rathdrum in another loser-out game that sends the winner to a play-in game at 1 p.m. Saturday in Orofino against District III’s third-place team.
In first-round games, PF got eight runs in the first inning and cruised past Sandpoint 16-6, and Moscow scored six in the seventh to down Lakeland 7-3 in the day’s only game that went the full seven innings.
To say the last two seasons have been disappointing for Post Falls would be a gross understatement – both years the No. 1 seed, both years no regional crown. Last year, the Trojans didn’t make it to state. But from that adversity came resolve.
Senior Erika Willy, who came through with a three-run double to open the floodgates in the fourth against Moscow, described the elation and breathed a heavy sigh of relief.
“It was really a team effort and I’m really proud of the way everyone played today and kept their focus,” said Willy. “Sometimes we come out flat, but not this game. We just got right into it and took it to ‘em.
“It’s my senior year, and I was on the team last year and we had a heartbreaking loss here last year. But we just came back and we really wanted it.”
The game was all too close, with PF clinging to a 2-1 lead through three innings.
“I felt like it was (going to turn out like last season),” Willy said. “But this team has a totally different outlook than last year.
“We just always stay positive and keep our focus and keep up the intensity and we never let down.”
Coach Phil Hayes, at the Trojans helm for a year as interim, summed up the watershed win.
“This was the biggest win for us in the last three years, I think,” said Hayes, whose team got nine hits and nearly batted around twice in a fourth inning that included six Moscow errors. “Especially for the seniors. It gets that monkey off their backs.
“We came in as the No. 1 seed the last two years at regionals and lost to them both times. I’m going to stop short of saying we hate Moscow, but we needed to get a little bit of payback. We owed them. But they made it interesting.”
Moscow coach Jessica Shawley remained positive and seemed ready to get back to business.
“It was just a tough game,” Shawley said. “Post Falls is a good team and it just wasn’t our day. We had that huge inning where they just blew it open, and we had some mental errors.
“Gosh, sometimes that’s the way game goes. But we’re going to keep our chins up and we’re going to get back at it again on Thursday. This is not the end of our season.”