Late line drive leads University to GSL crown

District rivals meeting to decide the Greater Spokane League slowpitch softball crown were fit to be tied.

On a cold, damp field at U-Hi, Central Valley and University, Central Valley School District rivals, needed nine innings to crown a champion in the league tournament finale, with the Titans pulling out a 10-9 victory for a second straight championship.

With runners on the corners and two outs in the bottom of the ninth, U-Hi’s Kayla Roberts punched a sinking liner up the middle. CV second baseman McKenzie Gummersal dove to her right and gloved the ball but could not hold on, allowing the winning run to score.

The stellar play by Gummersal, combined with a delayed call by the umpire, caused a delayed reaction by the Titans.

“She made a spectacular play to get to that ball,” U-Hi coach Jon Schuh said. “She sold out completely and made a great play. She has nothing to feel bad about. Wow, what a play.”

The victory was the third this season over the Bears. U-Hi, also the regular-season champion, earned 5-1 and 2-1 victories during league play.

“You know, I think the two best teams in the league met for the title,” Schuh said. “That’s not always the case. But it was this time.

“Every time we’ve played them it’s been a battle. The game we played for the league title was a 2-1 battle.”

The Titans entered the game without both their leading hitter and No. 1 pitcher. Senior third baseman Ali Warren and her freshman sister, Breann, both are in California to play in a fastpitch tournament.

Sophomore Alene Bethel stepped in to play third and anchored the infield by playing rock-solid defense while junior Shaina Marvel stepped in to play at second. Lexi Obenchain moved in to pitch the title game.

“The kids off the bench came in and did a great job,” Schuh said. “What was difficult coming in was not having our one hitter who always capable of hitting the ball out. Ali was hitting .675 and her sister was hitting in the high .500 range, so you always hate to lose hitters like that.”

The Titans took a 4-0 lead after one inning, but the Bears came back with a run in the second and three more on a home run by senior catch Hailey Saxby.

CV took a brief lead when Alyssa Erickson ripped a two-run single in the fourth, but U-Hi came back with two in the bottom of the fifth to knot the score at 6-6. Each team scored a run in their half of the sixth.

After a scoreless seventh, the Bears jumped to a 9-7 lead in their half of the eighth on an RBI single by Brooke Ford and a sacrifice fly by Brietta Beuchler.

U-Hi grounded out and popped out to start the bottom of the eighth, but Morgan Voelker reached on an infield error and Amanda Hickman and Kara Mitchell followed with singles to load the bases.

Schuh then turned to senior Lauren Palmer to pinch hit.

“My first thought was ‘Oh, great – I get to make the third out,’ ” Palmer said, laughing. “But I cleared my head and went up there to do what I know how to do.”

Palmer delivered a two-run single that tied the score one last time.

Alyssa Hawley led off the bottom of the ninth with an infield single and, after Marvel popped out, Bethel drilled a single to put runners at first and second. Obenchain grounded into a fielder’s choice to put runners on the corners with two outs before Roberts came up for the game-winning hit.