Last year, Cheney High’s softball team saw their season-opening nine-game winning streak snapped in a 5-3 loss at Idaho 4A Sandpoint, with all of the Bulldogs runs coming in a long third inning.
This year, the Lady Blackhawks came in to Saturday’s contest with the visitors from North Idaho again unbeaten at 8-0. Facing the same pitcher as last year — and despite being out hit 11-7 — Cheney notched different results in earning a measure of redemption, if not revenge, with a 7-4 win.
“They obviously out hit us, but didn’t hit well with runners in scoring position,” Lady Blackhawks head coach Gary Blake said of the key to Cheney’s victory.
Down 2-1, Cheney took the lead for good with a three-run bottom of the fourth. The Lady Blackhawks tied the game on Shelby Melton’s one-out sacrifice fly to center scoring Megan Krantz, and went up 4-2 on Courtney Hanson’s two-run single.
Cheney added some insurance in the fifth on Krantz’s two-run home run that not only cleared the fence in center but easily flew past several tents that were set up nearby as part of the Blackhawks Van Kuren Invitational track meet, something Blake had warned organizers to not let schools do.
“It was hit a long way, easily 250 feet,” Blake said. “They did that, pitched (tents) right along the fence and this was well over the tents.”
Cheney added one more run in the sixth on Logan Krantz’s one-out RBI single. Krantz led Cheney in hitting, going 2 for 4 with an RBI.
Freshman Shayla Courchaine got the win on the mound, giving up four runs on 11 hits but walking no one and striking out 12. Blake said 75 percent of her pitches were strikes, with 76.5 percent first pitch strikes, falling behind 2-1 and 3-0 on just two batters.
Courchaine’s only real threat came in the fifth inning. Sandpoint rallied to trim Cheney’s lead to 4-3, and had the bases loaded with nobody out — only to have Courchaine retire the next three hitters with two strikeouts and a fly-out to center.
Both teams stranded nine runners, but whereas the Lady Blackhawks gave up no free passes through walks, hit batters or errors, Sandpoint pitching walked six and hit three.
“They gave us nine extra base runners to go along with our seven hits,” Blake said. “It was a good game, good win, good competition.”
Cheney’s competition now becomes more local as the Lady Blackhawks (2-0, 9-0) pick up play in the Great Northern League this week. Cheney hosted West Valley (1-0, 8-1) Tuesday then hits the road for one game at Pullman (0-2, 0-9) Wednesday and a doubleheader Friday at East Valley (4-1, 5-5).
Blake said the games with the Spokane Valley schools will likely prove important in the long-term league standings and march towards the post season.
“Those are the two teams in the running with us,” he said.
John McCallum can be reached at [email protected].
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