CdA – going away

The Coeur d’Alene High softball team wasted no time securing the State 5A tournament title and veteran coach Larry Bieber showed equal quickness avoiding a postgame victory shower.

Dominating senior pitcher Jenna DeLong delivered a final strikeout to polish off an 11-3 rout of Borah in the championship game Saturday at Post Falls High, setting off a group celebration near the pitcher’s circle. Bieber, meanwhile, went right for the water cooler.

“It was too windy and too cold,” Bieber said. “They got me good last year. They started sneaking up behind me, but they set it down after the last out so I grabbed it and dumped it out (in front of the dugout).”

Then he joined in the celebration of the Vikings’ second consecutive championship and fourth overall, tied with Eagle for the most since the fastpitch tournament became a state-sanctioned event in 1997.

The key to CdA’s title-game win? A fast start, featuring a five-run first, three-run second and three-run third. The key to the tournament as a whole? Staying in the winners’ bracket. Coeur d’Alene (28-2) won four straight by a combined score of 21-4, with the key victory a 1-0, 10-inning nailbiter over Eagle on Friday.

“If we lose that game, we’re trying to do it the hard way,” Bieber said. “I mean you saw that with Borah and Eagle (earlier Saturday). They had been put through the wringer and those are both good teams.”

Borah (18-11) eliminated Eagle 10-7. The Mustangs (25-6), who ran out of steam about the same time Joni Cook’s marvelous pitching arm finally hit the wall, settled for third. Cook, who struck out 63 in 29 marathon innings Friday, was only able to pitch three innings because of soreness in her arm. Borah scored all 10 of its runs when Cook moved to second base. Cook finished the tournament with 85 strikeouts, shattering ex-Viking Blake Hoorelbeke’s record of 52.

Saturday’s games were delayed more than two hours by a morning downpour. The Vikings had no trouble adjusting to the new schedule, piling up five hits and five runs in the first inning.

Lindsey Stark laced a one-hopper that drilled freshman pitcher Bree Dixon near her right knee. Dixon was shaken up, but stayed in the game. She hit DeLong with a pitch and then gave up Amber Coburn’s two-run single, Lauren Horton’s single and Danielle Erickson’s RBI base hit.

“What a way to start it off,” said DeLong, who has signed with Drake University. “It’s a good thing we did because I wasn’t having my best day.”

Facing DeLong and a five-run deficit wasn’t part of Borah coach Derek McCormick’s strategy.

“It was pretty tough to regroup after that (first inning),” he said. “As soon as they got a couple of hits you could feel the energy in the park turn for them.”

Every Vikings starter had at least one hit or scored at least one run. Stark had a two-run single in the second and the Vikings took advantage of two Borah errors in a three-run third.

“It feels great,” Stark said. “It kind of makes me come back to basketball season and losing (in the title game to Lake City). This kind of makes up for it because winning state is an unbelievable feeling.”

DeLong allowed seven hits, including three doubles by Lindsay Barnett, and three runs – the first earned runs scored against her in the tournament. She fanned 14 batters – 61 in four games – and was backed by flawless defense.

“When it was time for her to compete, you saw her pick it up a notch,” Bieber said. “She was unbelievable in this tournament. Last year’s, too.”