Wildcat girls claim sixth state title in a row

Garth Meyer, Gazette Reporter | Jun 04, 20140

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The Clarion Hotel, Red Robin, Subway, an unnamed waffle place and the lawn furniture section of Sears at Valley Mall; the touchstones of a trip to Yakima for the Colton softball team stay the same, as does the result.

With a 9-4 win over Touchet in the state championship game last Saturday evening, the Wildcats took their sixth consecutive title.

Touchet had beaten them in the first game of a doubleheader in early April.

Between those two Southeast 1B league games, Colton coach Brad Nilson began to gather the team to talk.

Instead, senior shortstop Jenna Moser stepped in and suggested to the coach that she do it.

Moser told the team that ‘we play an inning at a time,’ which became a refrain through the rest of the season.

"The part you don’t see on the field about her is the leadership," Nilson said. "How do you replace that leadership?"

Moser went 3 for 4 with an RBI in her last game for the Wildcats.

To get to the state final, the team came together for an opening 15-0 win over Oakville followed by an 11-1 win over Almira-Coulee-Hartline, the team they beat last year to take their fifth consecutive state championship.

"Our team all hit the ball well and played good defense," said Nilson of the 2014 tournament. "The pitchers complemented each other like they always do."

Colton’s two throwers, junior Winnie Schultheis and sophomore Zoe Moser, frustrated batters through the league schedule, district and regional playoffs and for another two days in Yakima.

The sixth Wildcats’ championship came in a title game which was tied at 4-4 in the sixth inning.

Beginning a five-run burst that would put the game away, freshman Kendyl Druffel hit a ground ball to the shortstop for an error followed by a Jenna Moser double which drove in Druffel. Zoe Moser then hit a single to centerfield before Schultheis delivered a two-RBI double to left. Jenna and Zoe Moser scored and Colton led 7-4.

Next, Carrie Hennigar got on base with a walk and Schultheis scored on a passed ball for 8-4. Emma Schultheis – pinch-running for Hennigar – stole second, then took third on another passed ball. Savannah Chadwick then drove her in on another ground ball error by the shortstop.

In the top of the seventh, Touchet advanced runners to second and third with two outs before Colton second baseman Maryann Jacobs fielded a ground ball and threw to first baseman Rachel Meyer for the final out and the championship.

"It never gets old, that’s for sure," said Nilson.

The championship concludes a season that the coach thought bode well from the start.

"Last year I had no idea how we’d do, but this year, I felt comfortable all the way through the order."

As for the lawn furniture at Sears which the girls have been known to lounge on each year, it’s all part of a mostly smooth routine.

"They might have chased us out of there once or twice," Nilson said.

Colton 9,

Touchet 4

Senior Jenna Moser went 3 for 4 with an RBI while junior Winnie Schultheis was 2 for 3 with three RBIs. Hannah Kramer went 2 for 4 with an RBI.

On the mound for Colton, Zoe Moser pitched three innings to allow three hits, one earned run with three walks and two strikeouts.

Schultheis pitched four innings to allow two hits, with one earned run, four walks and two strikeouts.

Colton 15, Oakeville 0

MaryAnn Jacobs led at the plate, going 2 for 3 with with an RBI while while Winnie Schultheis went 1 for 3 with two RBIs and Jenna Moser was 1 for 3 with two RBIs as well.

Zoe Moser pitched for three innings to give up no hits, no runs with one walk and four strikeouts. Schultheis pitched for two innings, allowing no runs, no hits, no walks and three strikeouts.

Colton 11, Almira-Coulee Hartline 1

At the plate for Colton, Kendyl Druffel and Jenna Moser both went 2 for 3 with an RBI while Hannah Kramer was 2 for 4 with four RBIs and Winnie Schultheis went 1 for 3 with two RBIs.

Zoe Moser pitched the first three innings to allow no runs, no hits with one walk and five strikeouts. Winnie Schultheis pitched the next three to allow one hit, one run, three walks and two strikeouts.