Friday, May. 15, 2009

Richland softball stuns Southridge

By Kevin Anthony, Herald staff writer

With the Richland softball team facing a tall order in its CBBN district opener at Southridge on Thursday, the shortest kid on the field came up the biggest for the Bombers.

Little Kelsey Jager, 4 feet, 11 inches of smiling determination, battled through 11 innings of seven-hit ball to carry fourth-seeded Richland to a 5-4 upset of Columbia Division top seed Southridge.

A pair of errors in front of a double by sophomore Sydney Cejka -- a rare solid hit off Southridge ace Caitlin Klepper --led to three runs in the top of the 11th, and the Bombers survived back-to-back singles by the Suns to lead off the bottom of the inning.

The win sends the Bombers (10-11) into the district semifinals Saturday against Kennewick at Columbia Playfield in Richland. It also advances the Bombers to regionals for the 16th straight season.

Southridge (15-6) faces a loser-out game with Cascade No. 2 Kamiakin on Saturday. The top six teams advance to regionals next weekend in Yakima.

"We just put it together at the right time," said Jager, who improved to 8-8 on the year. "All season we've been getting better and better."

Richland knew runs would be at a premium going against Klepper (13-5), an overpowering sophomore who led the CBBN in ERA (0.71) and was second in strikeouts (130 in 129 innings).

Jager, on the other hand, strikes out one batter every three innings, though she sports a respectable 2.90 ERA. Where Klepper throws a hard, heavy ball that results in a lot of easy come-backers, Jager mixes up a couple of change-ups, relying on timing to keep hitters guessing on their front foot.

"I just stick with my junk," Jager said.

Despite their disparate styles, both pitchers were similarly effective.

The game's first hit came in the fourth -- Southridge's Katie Lowery hit a solid single through the left side of the infield -- and Klepper didn't give up a hit until the fifth. She struck out seven and didn't walk any, allowing just four hits.

Richland scratched a run across in the sixth on Cydney Elgin's single to tie the game at 1. The Suns had two on with one out in the seventh but couldn't score the winning run.

They also blew a golden opportunity to win in the 10th. In the second inning under tiebreaker rules -- each team starting with a runner at second -- the Bombers failed to get a run across as first baseman Lauren Dickey made a great play on a bunt to check the runner at third and tag the batter.

But despite getting their runner to third with one out, the Suns came up empty as well, thanks to a diving save by Richland catcher Emily Mills on an errant throw from the outfield.

"We just didn't get the hit when we needed it," said Southridge coach Wade Spence, whose Suns beat the Bombers 2-1 during the season.

In the 11th, back-to-back one-out errors opened the door for the Bombers.

"We did a really good job of making the most of when we got baserunners," said Richland coach Casey Emery. "We optimized our opportunities."

Richland 000 001 001 03 — 5 4 1
Southridge 000 100 001 02 — 4 7 2
Kelsey Jager and Emily Mills; Caitlin Klepper and Heather Worley. Highlights—Sydney Cejka (R) 1x4, 2B, RBI; Allyx Copeland (SR) 2x5, RBI; Worley (SR) 2x5, 2 SB.

Kennewick 2, Kamiakin 0

Kennewick scored twice early in the game, and it was enough to defeat Kamiakin in a CBBN 4A district tournament matchup at Lawrence Scott Park.

"It was a tight game," Lions coach Dave Giancola said. "We forced a few mistakes on their part and were able to take advantage. And (pitcher) Taylor (Bakos) had one of her better games of the year."

Kennewick 110 000 0 — 2 3 2
Kamiakin 000 000 0 — 0 6 3
Taylor Bakos and Eryn Nelson; Lindsey Camphuis and Jessi Miracle. Highlights—Larissa Johnson (Ke) 1x3, 2W; Amanda Hall (Ke) 1x4; Gabby McCallister (Ke) 1x4; Miracle (Ka) 2x3,

Walla Walla 4, Pasco 0

WALLA WALLA -- Hope Klicker tossed six shutout innings and also drove in a run as Cascade top seed Walla Walla won its district opener. The Blue Devils play Eastmont, a 9-1 winner over Moses Lake, in Saturday's semifinals, while Pasco plays ML in a loser-out game.

Pasco 000 000 0 — 0 5 2
Walla Walla 103 000 x — 4 6 2
Hannah Kirk and Laura Tome, Marissa Menchaca (4); Hope Klicker, Alyson Ambler (7) and Vicky Reardon. Highlights—Rachel Antonovich (P) 2x3; Jessica Mothersbaugh (P) 1x2, 2B; Klicker (WW) 2x2, 2B, 3B, RBI; Alexis Bobadilla (WW) 1x3, 2B.

Eastmont 9, Moses Lake 1 Eastmont 151 020 0 — 9 9 2
Moses Lake 010 000 0 — 1 4 4
Karissa Andrus and Cassi Ellis; Karly Stoltman and Shelby Gonzales. Highlights—Casey Weaver (E) 3x4, 3R; Ellis (E) 1x3, R, 2 RBI; Sydney Chestnut (E) 2x4, 2 RBI; Andrus (E) 3K, 4W; Bailey Ritchie (ML) 2x3; Stoltman (ML) 3K, 10W.