Highlanders fall in 11; Titans, Wildcats win

The Shadle Park Highlanders hadn’t lost a game all year until this week. Now they’ve lost two.

And if the Greater Spokane League regular season champions are going to get to their second consecutive State 4A softball tournament, they will have to win three games today – with a visibly tired Sam Skillingstad in the circle.

The Highlanders opened 4A Eastern Regional play Friday night at Franklin Park by dropping a 2-1 decision to the Big Nine Conference’s regular season co-champ Kamiakin (22-3) in 11 innings. In other first-round action, Mt. Spokane (17-6) and University (20-3) earned wins for the GSL, the Wildcats 3-2 over Kennewick (16-8) in an early game and U-Hi rallying with two runs in the bottom of the seventh for a 5-4 win over Walla Walla (17-8) in a game that ended after midnight. Central Valley (15-8), the GSL’s other representative, was routed 10-0 by the Big Nine’s other co-champ, Richland (22-2).

“We didn’t execute,” Shadle coach George Lynn said after his Highlanders left 13 runners stranded against the Braves’ Denise Teel, a sophomore who pitched most of the year on the junior varsity. “Right now, we’re too one-dimensional.”

That one dimension is Skillingstad, who struck out 21 while yielding four hits. She entered the game having yielded three earned runs all year and that total hadn’t changed going into the top of the 11th, the third inning of the international tiebreaker.

Skillingstad opened the inning with a strikeout, but Kasey Lackey, who started the inning at second in the tiebreaker format, took third on a wild pitch with Sarah O’Brien at the plate. Skillingstad hit O’Brien with a 3-2 pitch, and O’Brien took second uncontested on the first pitch to Katy Jones.

The second pitch to Jones was Skillingstad’s 146th of the game, and it was laced it into right-center field, scoring both runners.

The second run proved to be crucial, as the Highlanders (21-2) rallied in the bottom of the inning. And it was Skillingstad who got the two-out RBI single to right. Kinzee Powell followed with a single to left and a wild pitch put runners on second and third. But, for the eighth time in the game, Shadle couldn’t get a two-out, RBI hit – this time because of a groundout to second – and the loser’s bracket beckoned.

The Braves were playing without a couple of first-team All-Big Nine players at the usual positions. Shortstop Olivia Sifuetez didn’t get into the lineup and Jones, who earned her honors as a pitcher, played third base. Both were suffering from arm problems.

But Teel filled in nicely in the circle, keeping the Highlanders off balance by working a wide outside corner and mixing in an effective changeup.

U-Hi 5, Walla Walla 4: Thanks to an early rainstorm and the extra-inning Shadle game, the Titans didn’t get on the field until after 10 p.m. Then they didn’t start their offense until almost midnight.

Trailing 4-3 going into the last inning, the Titans’ Alyssa Hawley led off with a single up the middle. An out later, Alex Marquard reached on the Blue Devils’ sixth error.

Riki Schiermeister beat out a bunt to load the bases before Tonya Schnibbe drove home the tying run with a single to left. Ashley Fargher brought the long night to an end with a short hit, a slowly hit ground ball to second which allowed Marquard to score the game winner.

Mandy Mikelson (11-0) earned the win by shutting out Walla Walla over the final four innings. The Blue Devils scored four unearned runs in the first three innings as U-Hi committed four errors.

Mt. Spokane 3, Kennewick 2: Kristina DeMello limited the Lions to six hits and struck out 15 as the GSL’s third seed moved within one win of state. With the score tied at 2, Nikiko Johnson doubled in the top of the sixth and scored on Mindy Yorlano’s RBI single.

Lacey Kerr and Kori Holcomb each had two hits for Mt. Spokane, which is trying to earn a trip to the State 4A softball tournament for the first time.

Richland 10, CV 0: Stacey Ellingsworth, the Big Nine MVP, limited the Bears to three hits – two by catcher Mickenzie Alden – in a game shortened to six innings by the 10-run rule.

Ellingsworth also keyed the offense with a two-run home run in the first inning.

In today’s action, Richland faces Kamiakin and Mt. Spokane faces U-Hi at 10 a.m., both with a berth to state on the line.

At noon, Shadle meets CV and Kennewick faces Walla Walla in a loser-out games. Only one state berth is available through the loser’s bracket.