Blackhawks slow pitch nails big win against Wildcats

CHENEY – If you thought the Cheney slow pitch softball program was too new to have any really big games, you’d be wrong.

The Lady Blackhawks posted what could arguably be one of the biggest wins by any Cheney team this season on Monday, Oct. 7, by rallying for a 2-1 win over previously unbeaten 3A Mt. Spokane. Kerttu Partanen hit the game-tying single and eventually came around to score what proved to be the winning run in Cheney’s two-run top of the seventh, with pitcher Makenna Olson and the defense holding off the Wildcats in their last at bat.

Olson, Partanen, Tatum Sloan, Madison O’Riley and Makyla Ward all had hits, with Olson holding the Wildcats to six hits in her win.

The win over the Wildcats in Greater Spokane League play gave the Lady Blackhawks their second and longest winning streak of the season at four games. Their first streak of three wins was broken at Ferris last Tuesday as Cheney fell to the Saxons in a 17-16 slugfest.

Cheney fell behind 7-2 but scored eight runs in the top of the fourth and five in the top of the fifth for a 15-10 lead. Leading 16-11, the Lady Blackhawks surrendered six runs to Ferris, capped by a walk-off two-run home run by Jasmine Suwanmaneedang, in their final at bat to take the loss.

Isabella King and Rhosewen Caskey each had three hits, including a triple by King, with Lindsay Hagreen, Sloan, O’Riley and Partanen two hits apiece in Cheney’s 17-hit attack. Olson got the loss, and neither team was especially good defensively, combining for 15 errors.

The Lady Blackhawks got back in the win column on Oct. 3 with a 10-4 win over visiting Shadle Park, avenging a 7-1 loss to the Highlanders on Sept. 19. King was 3 for 4 with two doubles and four RBIs to lead Cheney at the plate, with Sloan also collecting three hits and Ward, Miranda Barber, Olson and Caskey two each, including a triple by Caskey. Cierra Morton got the win.

Saturday, the Lady Blackhawks traveled to Grandview for a non-league doubleheader with the Greyhounds, sweeping the home team 14-2 and 28-2. Cheney batters pounded out 30 hits over the two games, with the defense committing five errors total to Grandview’s 23.

King had three hits and three RBIs to lead Cheney in game one, with Sloan driving in three runs on four hits in game two. Olson got the win in game one, with Morton getting the victory in game two.

Cheney moves to .500 for the first time this season, 5-5 in GSL play and 7-7 overall, essentially tied for sixth with Lewis and Clark (5-5, 6-6). The Lady Blackhawks hosted the Tigers on Tuesday, Oct. 8, results next week.

Cheney’s record gives them the third seed right now into a six-team 2A/3A classification playoff. The Lady Blackhawks have six games remaining and three against 3A schools, North Central (1-9, 1-10) Oct. 10 and a doubleheader at fourth-place Rogers (6-3, 8-4) to end the regular season Oct. 17.

Rogers and Mt. Spokane are ahead of Cheney in the GSL’s 2A/3A standings.

John McCallum can be reached at [email protected].