She’s back and even better

Greater Spokane League softball is already well into its season and the best pitcher not named Sam Skillingstad has her team chasing last year’s State 4A second-place finishers from Shadle Park.

North Central’s Kelcie Vallies has notched four straight victories so far this year and is looking forward to next week’s showdown between the North Side rivals.

Her wins included a two-hit, 10-strikeout 4-2 victory over perennial power University to start the season. She won a nine-inning, one-hit 4-1 victory over Mead and Panthers sophomore Taneesha Pounder, who pitched no-hit ball into the fifth inning.

“Kelcie Vallies, wow!” enthused Panthers coach John Barrington. “She looked tough with 17 strikeouts.”

Like Skillingstad, who made an oral commitment in the fall to attend Oregon, Vallies is a junior.

She didn’t come in with quite the fanfare of her Highlanders counterpart, but she has been good enough to pitch NC into two straight trips to the State 3A tournament. Last year Vallies was named All-GSL for the fifth-place league finishers.

As a freshman in 2005, a year when Greater Spokane League pitching was as deep as any in league history, Vallies won seven league games then pitched NC to state with two 4-2 wins and a 3-1 triumph in district and regionals.

Last year NC was 13-6 in league and she shut out Clarkston and East Valley to earn a state return.

This year her pitching has blossomed.

“Kelcie is getting so much better, you can’t believe it,” said coach Herm Marshall. “Last Friday (against Mead) was the best I’ve ever seen her throw. She gave up one hit and it could have been an error. From the third inning on she was just lights out. Everything was working.”

Vallies said she spent three to five nights a week during the winter with pitching coach Steve Fountain and pitched with her select team on weekends.

“I worked a lot on my spins to get my zone down and at home with a spinner for my rise ball,” said Vallies, referring to repetitive drills using a softball that has a hole through it and is attached to a bolt with handle that some one holds while she spins the ball.

“It’s been gradual, but all my pitches are down tight,” she said. “I’m hitting the strike zone and feel more confident in myself this year and way more confident in the way my pitches are working.”

Beating U-Hi was a highlight since the Indians had not defeated the Titans during her career. She relished holding Mead until NC pulled away in extra innings.

“Winning meant a ton to me and a ton to the team,” she said.

Besides the luxury of having Vallies on the hill, Marshall credits the maturing of a team with nine returnees – five of them third-year varsity players – and addition of two key freshmen with NC’s 4-0 start.

The Indians did suffer a blow when catcher Kim Hare injured her knee and is out for an indeterminate amount of time. Her bat will be most missed, Marshall said.

But if the team continues to get timely hits, something that had been lacking in seasons past, this could be a breakout year for NC, particularly with Vallies pitching.

Her future looks bright. She’s already been in contact with several colleges.