Class 4A softball: Inglemoor savors first title

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TACOMA — Megan Schuler couldn't shake the feeling of disbelief.

She and her Inglemoor teammates were still beaming after beating KingCo 4A rival Eastlake 2-0 in the championship game of the Class 4A state fastpitch softball tournament at the South End Recreation Area. The trophy had been awarded, pictures taken and home plate divvied up for souvenirs. But it still had not sunk in for Schuler, the senior pitcher who led the Vikings to their first title.

"I'm in shock," she said after shutting Eastlake down on three hits. "I don't believe it. Eastlake is the best. I couldn't have picked a better ending to our senior year, to go out beating Eastlake, a team we lost to so many times over the past two years. It's a surreal feeling."

Inglemoor (23-6) was 0-3 against the Wolves (25-2) this spring and 0-6 over the last two seasons. Eastlake ace Caitlin Noble had not allowed a run all tournament. But the Vikings used one big inning to net the biggest fastpitch victory in school history, capped by Lauren Kebely's bases-loaded double. It was Kebely's fourth extra-base hit of the tournament.

"She's the one we wanted up there," coach Jeff Skelly said.

Susan Loudon started the decisive third inning with a walk — only the second Noble had given up in the tourney. Courtney Clayton's well-placed sacrifice bunt turned into a single and Valerie Keeney was hit when she squared to bunt, loading the bases. With one out, Kebely cranked a ball to right-center to easily score two. Keeney was thrown out at the plate.

"I was pretty excited when I hit it," Kebely said. "To get a hit off Caitlin is pretty tough. She's an awesome pitcher."

Noble (18-2), who struck out eight, gave Kebely her due.

"It really just came down to one timely hit," she said. "We had our chances, and they had theirs. Kebely just came up with the big hit."

Eastlake, which scored only four runs in the tournament, squandered Heather Hansen's leadoff double in the third and a bases-loaded opportunity in the third.

"We struggled at the plate all tournament," Eastlake coach George Crowder said, "but I love this team. We had just a fantastic season."

Other games

Auburn Riverside 5, Prairie 0 (3rd-4th places) — Sophomore pitcher Ashley Sellers capped an outstanding tournament with her third shutout in four games, leading the Ravens (26-6) to their best finish in state history. Sellers allowed only one run in the tournament, an unearned run in the bottom of the ninth in a 1-0 semifinal loss to Eastlake.

"She's been phenomenal all season," Riverside coach Chris Leverenze said of her pitcher.

Sellers scattered five hits and struck out eight. In 38 innings, she fanned 39 batters.

Riverside, which lost 6-4 to Prairie in the West Central/Southwest 4A bi-district tournament last Monday, scored all five runs in the first two innings. Katie Barker and Melissa Dubay both had three hits for the Ravens. Prairie (24-7), last year's runner-up, had won four in a row since a first-round loss to Kamiak Saturday.

After the semifinal loss to Eastlake, Auburn Riverside eliminated Kamiak 3-1 to assure itself of a trophy.

Eastlake 1, Auburn Riverside 0 (semifinal, 9 innings) — Channing Kanyer's one-out grounder to short scored Hansen from third to lift the Wolves into the championship game. Kanyer, starting at second under the international tiebreaker rule, advanced on Lauren Andrzejewski's line-drive single off Sellers.

Noble was sharp as usual, striking out 11, walking one and allowing just one hit, a two-out double by Dubay in the seventh. But Dubay was thrown out when she tried to dive back to second after originally being waved to third.

Sellers, who had given up three hits combined in her two games of the tournament, was touched for four yesterday and walked five (two intentionally). Eastlake's Dani Cosme was 2 for 2 with a double.

Inglemoor 3, Wilson 2 (semifinal, 9 innings) — Chandra Barton caught Heather Spooner's rocket to center just in front of the fence in the bottom of the ninth to preserve the victory. Earlier in the game, Wilson's Stacey Lien belted a two-run home run to deep center to tie the score at 2-all. That was the only hit the Rams got off Inglemoor's Schuler, who struck out seven.

Inglemoor had taken a 2-0 lead in the third as Kebely pushed one run home on a fielder's choice and Mallory Milke singled in another. The Vikings went up 3-2 in the top of the ninth on Loudon's one-out single.