Peter Samore
SCHOLL CANYON FIELD -- A six-run lead after two innings is
seemingly insurmountable for most softball teams, but Parkview Pet Clinic
was an exception Wednesday.
It came back from that deficit, and made one final rally in the bottom
of the sixth inning with four runs to take the District 16 Tri-Cities
Major Softball Championship, 13-12, at Scholl Canyon Field.
Parkview Coach Jim Roach expected the football-like score.
"I figured on a high-scoring game," he said. "I knew we'd be in double
digits. We just got the timely hits to win the game."
Parkview (26-1-1) was down, 12-9, going into the bottom the sixth.
Kelli Wirth led off with a single and reached second base on a wild
pitch. After fouling away four pitches, Sarah Purkis tripled to left
field to score Wirth.
Jamie Nelson walked and after the next two batters struck out, Molly
Roach walked to load the bases. Jennifer Becker and Molly Mercer each
walked to score Purkis and Nelson, and Astrid Castaneda's single in the
infield brought in Roach for the win.
Photography (20-8-1), the defending Tri-Cities champion, scored seven
runs off Becker to take a 7-1 lead in the second. Becky Lockhart hit an
inside-the-park grand slam to left in an inning that Photography sent 13
batters to the plate.
"Jennifer struggled in the second, but after that she was great,"
Roach said. "It was just a game in which both teams had great offense."
However, Becker helped her offense stay in the game by going two four
three with two singles, two walks, two runs batted in and three runs
scored. She improved her postseason batting average to .846 (11-13).
Though Parkview took a 9-7 lead in the fourth, Photography wouldn't
let it stand. Crystal Roberts and Whitney Stanley scored four of
Photography's five runs in the last two innings to build the 12-9
advantage.
"We kept fighting back," Photography Coach Jim McGinvey said. "We
never quit when we were down and made them prove that they were the
better team."
BOX SCORE
Photography 070 032 -- 12 12 4
Parkview 104 404 -- 13 11 1
Photography IP R ER H BB K
Lockhart 3.1 9 2 7 4 3
Owen 2.1 4 4 4 4 3
Total 5.2 13 6 11 8 6
Parkview IP R ER H BB K
Becker 6 12 11 12 7 5
WP-Becker (10-0) LP-Owen (n/a)
2B: Ph-McGinvey; Pa-Castaneda, Nelson, Mercer
3B: Ph-Stanley; Pa-Purkis
HR: Ph-Lockhart (1)
SB: Ph-Hackett; Pa-Becker, Castaneda, Mercer, Nelson
