North Central clinches return trip to state tourney

The North Central Indians had one goal for this season: a repeat trip to the State 3A softball tournament.

They accomplished it Saturday when they defeated East Valley 6-0 in the 3A Eastern Regional semifinals at Franklin Park.

Despite losing 2-1 to Selah in a regional title game shortened to five innings by darkness, the Indians (15-7) have another goal in mind.

“That was our goal, make another trip to state,” said NC coach Herm Marshall, whose team made its first trip last season but lost twice. “Hopefully, this time we’ll get a game.”

EV (7-18) got within a win of making a state trip with a 3-2 day-opening win over Mid-Valley League regular-season champion Hanford. But the Knights lost to NC and were eliminated by West Valley (Yakima) 11-2.

Clarkston (13-10) was eliminated 14-4 by Selah (14-9) in the opening round.

NC 6, EV 0: The Indians aren’t going to blow you out. But they have a formula, and they followed it perfectly.

“That’s our M.O. – we play good defense, we get good pitching and we have some good speed on the top of our lineup,” Marshall said. “If we get them on, then maybe we can get some clutch hits. That’s what happened today.”

The Indians got them on, and the Knights helped them score. The first two NC runs came from a passed ball and a throwing error. Two more errors helped the Indians score three times in the fifth.

That was all the Indians’ Kelcie Vallies needed.

NC’s state trips have corresponded to Vallies’ two years on the North Side campus. She yielded just two infield hits to EV and struck out 10.

Selah 2, NC 1: The Indians followed their offensive formula, when leadoff hitter Maggie Capwell led off the game with a walk and worked around to score on an error. But NC’s defense bent in the fourth, with two errors wrapped around a triple and single as Selah tied it. The Vikings won the regional title thanks to a run-scoring double from Arianne Judy in the fifth.

EV 3, Hanford 2: The Knights strung together a walk and four singles for three runs in the third, and Erin Fredrick (5-14) made it stand up.

Marissa Ragan led off by coaxing a walk. Leadoff hitter Allie Burger, Morgan Manchester, Tiffany Bittner and Danica Hanley followed with consecutive singles, the last three driving home runs.

The Falcons (17-4) threatened in the sixth and the seventh. In the sixth, Alyssa Reinland nailed a runner at the plate and snagged the final ground ball for a bases-loaded force at third. With runners at first and third with two out in the seventh, Fredrick induced a groundout to Burger.

West Valley (Yakima) 11, EV 2: Fredrick took the circle in an attempt to pitch the Knights to state. But she lasted just one hitter, as a comebacker hit her in the face and knocked her from the box. Echo Abramson, who pitched against NC, relieved, but the Rams (20-4) couldn’t be stopped in a game ended by darkness in the fifth.

Bittner accounted for the Knights’ runs with a two-run double in the third.

Selah 14, Clarkston 4: The Bantams’ season came to an end under a 14-hit barrage by the Vikings. Judy belted a solo home run and an RBI single to pace Selah. Stephanie Ogden had a two-run home run for Clarkston.