Moscow run ends at state
One run ended and another continued Saturday at the 4A state softball tournament at Ramsey Fields in Coeur d’Alene.
The Moscow Bears’ unlikely trip deep into the tourney finally came to a halt, 10-0 in five innings against Mountain Home and freshman ace Nickayla Skinner.
Bishop Kelly, meanwhile, made it three straight at state, knocking off Mountain Home 5-3 in a tight championship contest – avenging a tough loss to the Tigers in their district championship game in the process.
The Knights (28-3) led 3-1 after five innings, and with lights-out senior Brittney Croner on the mound appeared to have the title game in hand.
Mountain Home, however, wasn’t ready to go away, and with one on and one out in the bottom of the sixth, Skinner ripped a shot over the center-field fence to knot the game 3-3.
BK, having been there before, answered with two in the top of the seventh and Croner, struck out the side in the bottom half to seal the victory.
“We had them on our minds coming in – we were here for them,” said Croner, who averaged 14 strikeouts in four tournament games and will pitch for Towson University in Maryland this fall. “And I’m really proud of this team – we’ve meshed really well this season.”
Mountain Home coach Joy Memmelaar gave credit to BK and summed up the Tigers’ tale.
“We came into this season with a freshman pitcher and an infield full of sophomores,” Memmelaar said. “We said, ‘OK, we have to put these pieces together and learn to hit,’ and we did.
“They have done everything we asked of them and never complained – they’re just a fantastic group of girls.”
Moscow (20-11) ran into a buzzsaw in Skinner and the Tigers, who got a pair of three-run homers from senior catcher Sammy Dodge and sophomore shortstop Breann Christiansen in a seven-run first inning and cruised the rest of the way.
But it was hard for coach Jessica Shawley and the Bears, who earned their second third-place trophy in four years, to hang their heads.
“This is one of the best seasons ever,” said Shawley. “I’m sorry it had to end that way, but that’s the way it goes sometimes – it’s softball. But we did a great job of representing Moscow and north Idaho, so I’m really proud of them.”
Bears junior catcher Nancy Charles hoped the Bears sent a message to some of the team’s naysayers.
“We’ve come a real long way, especially since at the beginning of the season a lot of people didn’t think we would make it past our league,” Charles said. “We had to fight through three tough games on Friday to get here, and I think that’s something to be proud of.”
Senior ace Sarah Hawley and senior center fielder Lauren Bender had a team-high eight hits for the Bears in the tournament.
“It was amazing,” said Hawley, who earned all three Moscow victories at state. “This season was so much better than I thought it would be, and I’m so happy for us seniors. I’m so happy.”