Shadle rallies to top U-Hi in GSL softball

The Shadle Park softball team seemed to have more lives than a cat Friday.

The Highlanders rallied six times before knocking off the visiting University Titans 10-9 in 11 innings to move closer to clinching the Greater Spokane League championship.

It was a splendidly entertaining game between the league co-leaders.

Defending champ Shadle moved into first alone at 14-1, 14-2 overall. U-Hi slipped to 13-2 and 14-2 with three games to conclude the regular season next week.

After one scoreless extra inning, the game moved to the tiebreaker format where each team began with the last player out in the previous inning starting on second base.

In each of the three tiebreaker innings, U-Hi took leads. But each time the Highlanders rallied.

Twice Shadle scored two runs – in the 10th and final innings.

Shadle pulled even at 9-9 on a single by Caitlyn Fullmer. The hit advanced Melina Mendoza to third.

Fullmer took off for second with Maddie Goode at the plate, but the throw from the catcher scooted into the outfield, allowing Mendoza to score the winning run.

“Mistakes are kind of what created the problem,” U-Hi coach Jon Schuh said. “It’s kind of poetic that it ended the way it did. When they made mistakes we didn’t capitalize very well but we battled the whole time.”

In the 10th, U-Hi took an 8-6 lead on a Gracee Dwyer two-run homer, her second of the game. But Shadle answered. The Highlanders’ Jaya Allen knocked in the tying run with a deep double down the right-field line.

“They came out here to kick our (butt) and they put us on our heels,” Shadle coach Guy Perham said. “I’m just proud of the kids for coming back and finding a way. They were resilient.”

Both teams finished with 15 hits.

Allen, the best pitcher in the league with a league-leading ERA, knows her ERA will go up. But that didn’t matter to her.

“They’re a great-hitting team so I didn’t expect to have a shutout or anything like that,” Allen said. “I was prepared to have hits off me. It does bring my ERA up but it was a great game and it doesn’t matter to me.”

U-Hi played much better in the return game than it did in a 3-0 loss early.

Mendoza led Shadle with three hits and three RBIs, Allen had three hits and two RBIs and Kaitlyn Scoble had three hits.

Dwyer finished with three hits and five RBIs to lead U-Hi.

“We proved we could hit a girl with velocity,” Schuh said. “That’s a big confidence boost. And we showed that we could move the ball around with the short game, too. Those are good positives.”