Mt. Spokane rings up first triumph at state
TACOMA – Delaney Zalud didn’t care about Mt. Spokane’s first opponent. She didn’t ask about the fields at South End Recreation Area or even the potentially inclement record.
“The first thing my senior pitcher asked after we qualified?” Wildcats coach Carl Adams said. “She asked if they could go shopping in Seattle. Maybe she had a little premonition.”
The premonition came in Mt. Spokane’s opportunity to visit Southcenter Mall in Tukwila, a suburb of Seattle, on Friday when heavy rains washed away the first day of the State 3A softball tournament at SERA.
When the weather finally improved enough to get things under way on Saturday, Zalud was right in the middle of an opening-round 2-0 victory over Franklin Pierce. The senior had 16 strikeouts and doubled.
“That was the first state win in school history,” Adams said. “This weekend has just been fun for the kids. Just a great memory.”
In the school’s second trip to the tournament (Mt. Spokane went 0 for 2 in 2006), the Wildcats got their first win.
Mt. Spokane followed that victory up by facing defending 3A champion Bainbridge – and lost 10-0 in five innings.
“It wasn’t like we did anything really bad,” Adams said. “They just hit everything right on. Sometimes it happens that way.”
That dropped Mt. Spokane into the consolations, where the Wildcats (15-14) lost to Union of Camas 3-1 in a game that started at 9 p.m. Because of the rain-shortened schedule, consolation winners were to be awarded a third-place tie, and therefore a state-placing trophy.
4A: The University Titans opened the state tournament against Heritage. The Titans scored the game’s first run, in the top of the second, but the Timberwolves rapped around U-Hi starter Devynnne Johnson for five runs in the bottom of the inning en route to a 13-2 first-round victory.
The Titans (18-9) then faced Stadium of Tacoma. The Tigers scored three times in the top of the first on their way to an 11-0 consolation-bracket victory. Heidy Wells held U-Hi to just one hit in five innings.
2B: Colfax (20-5) went deepest among area teams at the tourney in Yakima, losing to Pe Ell 12-2 in the semifinals, then falling 6-5 in the consolation semifinals to DeSales.
Springdale and Davenport both were eliminated in the consolations. Davenport (21-4) beat La Salle 4-1 in the second round before losing to DeSales 9-1. Springdale (21-3) began with an 11-10 win over La Conner, then fell 20-4 to Orcas.
1A: Lakeside won a third-place trophy at the rain-shortened tourney in Pasco.
Lakeside (22-3) lost to Cle Elum-Roslyn 3-0 in the quarterfinals, then beat Warden 10-9 in consolations. Because of the weather, other consolations were canceled and Lakeside was among six teams given a third-place trophy.
Chewelah (13-12) lost in the consolations, 11-6 to Warden.