Lady Tigers fight hard in diamond duel
By RAY RODRIGUEZ - ARGUS OBSERVER
Wednesday, May 23, 2007 12:49 PM PDT
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| Ontario’s Kara Saito gets set to field a ground ball during Tuesday’s second round 4A state softball game against Scappoose at Ore-Ida Heinz Regional Sports Complex in Ontario. Scappoose won the game, 13-9. |
ONTARIO - The fireworks started from the get-go as offense was at a premium Tuesday with Ontario and Scappoose combining for 22 runs and 28 hits in a second round shootout.
The Indians, however, had a couple more bullets in the chamber.
Scappoose pounded out 17 hits and took advantage of seven Ontario errors in its 13-9 win in second round action at the 4A state championship tournament at Ore-Ida Regional Sports Complex in Ontario.
In a game that went back and forth, whenever Ontario scored runs, Scappoose would answer with more runs to take the momentum.
“At the beginning we had a lot of errors and that kind of put us behind right out of the gate,” Ontario head coach David Hopper said. “They put some hits on the board and they scrapped all game long. Scappoose is a good hitting team and I would be shocked if they didn’t go a long way in the state tournament because they are a good team.”
Scappoose had a lead of 8-4 in the third inning, but Ontario chipped away with two runs in the third to creep to 8-6.
Down 8-6 in the bottom of the fourth inning, the Lady Tigers got a charge from Kayla Park, who deposited a game-tying, two-out, two-run home run off Scappoose relief pitcher Katie Smith that just cleared the left field wall.
Park went 4-for-4 with a triple, a home run, four RBIs, two runs scored and finished a double shy of a cycle.
The Indians scored three runs in the fifth inning and added two runs in the sixth inning to break open an 8-8 tie.
It was whole new game with three innings left to play.
In the fifth inning, Scappoose scored three runs and Ontario committed two errors, which put the damper on any comeback bid.
Scappoose’s Megan Karp, who went 2-for-5 with five RBIs, landed the knockout blow with a fifth-inning, two-run home run that made the score 11-8.
“There’s not much you can say, they battled,” Scappoose’s first-year head coach Dean Smith said. “They don’t quit, they never quit. They came out and beat a very good team today.”
The Tigers got as close as 13-9 entering the bottom of the seventh and had one last shot for a miracle comeback.
Francine Hussey reached base with a walk to lead things off and then Smith buckled down.
She retired Kayla Yano, Kim Boyd and Ashley Moeller to preserve the win. The Tigers tallied 11 hits, but left six runners on base.
Sarah Wharton, playing in her final high school game, went 3-for-4 with three runs scored, Hussey tallied two runs scored and teammates Jordan Barnett and Yano drove in two runs apiece.
“We all wanted this. Me and Kayla (Yano) didn’t want this to be our last game, but there’s nothing we can do. We tried,” Wharton said. “We came out and hit the ball. What hurts the most is leaving and not being able to come back. These girls have a lot to prove and I think they are going to be a good team next year.”
Jordan Rowan tossed six innings, struck out one and walked one, but like the story of her season, her defense committed several untimely errors down the stretch as six of the 13 runs were unearned.
The game marked the first state playoff game in 12 years for Ontario, who finish the season 14-11 and captured the Greater Oregon League crown.
“We don’t quit. They have done it all season long and we’ll be back,” Hopper said. “These girls work hard and they’re going to work hard all summer, they work hard all winter and they’ll be ready to go next spring. We kind of got our feet wet and we’ll be ready to go if we get back in this spot.”
