CdA softball seniors part as 2nd in state

It wasn't exactly the closure they were after, but it was closure nonetheless.

Following their 6-4 loss to the Eagle High School softball team in the A-1 State Tournament final Saturday, the 11 seniors on the Coeur d'Alene roster packed their gear and emptied the dugout for the final time as Vikings.

It wasn't the championship-game loss and runner-up trophy that brought about the sorrow. It was the ache that comes with parting ways, knowing the bus rides and dugout chants were behind them.

"It finally hit us that were finally splitting up," senior right fielder Cassandra Vig said. "This has been one of the best experiences of my life and I wouldn't take it back for anything, even though we lost today."

After working with many of the 11 seniors since they were freshman and sophomore starters, coach Larry Bieber felt the sting of finality as well.

"They mean a lot to each other and they mean a lot to me," Bieber said.

"It's not so much losing this game, I'm more melancholy about this being our last game. I'm going to miss those 11 girls."

The loss to the Mustangs came after a 6-0 victory over Blackfoot in a loser-out game Saturday and a 4-3 comeback win over Eagle in extra innings.

Senior pitcher Blake Hoorelbeke fired a one-hit shutout past Blackfoot to force a rematch of Friday's 1-0 semifinal loss to Eagle.

Facing elimination in the noon championship opener, the Vikings rode a two-run, sixth-inning rally to knot the game at 2, eventually winning in the bottom of the eighth.

The win saddled Eagle with its first loss of the tournament, setting up a third and deciding game between the tightly matched pair.

Neither team exhibited an abundance of championship poise in the finale, combining for 10 errors, 16 hits and just two earned runs.

Eagle opened a 5-0 lead with a four-run third inning on four hits and four Coeur d'Alene errors.

"There's a lot of hype surrounding a championship game, especially when its an if-needed game," Bieber said. "It's kind of an emotional letdown and it's not characteristic of how we play the game. I can't explain it."

The Vikings rallied in the bottom of the third and fourth innings, but only four of the 13 runners they sent to the plate found their way back home against Eagle starter Lisa Hansen.

"Both teams were a little tired and tense," said Eagle coach Judy Crandell. "Sometimes when you're playing for a title, you want to play your best and you get a little bit too keyed up."

It was Hoorelbeke's third start in less than 4 hours and the senior ace had worn a hole through the bottom of her shoe, fighting a blister that grew with each pitch. But when Bieber asked her if she wanted relief, Hoorelbeke would hear none of it.

"She couldn't push off very well at the end I asked her if she wanted (to play first)," Bieber said. "She said, `Don't you dare.' "She wasn't about to end this at first base."

Washington

University took home the Region IV championship by defeating Eisenhower 9-0 and 4-3 Saturday in Spokane.

Both teams earned State 4A berths. Also advancing to state were Shadle Park and Moses Lake.

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