Serving Whitman County since 1877
Serving Whitman County since 1877
Mary Ann Jacobs
Mary Ann Jacobs raps one for Colton.
For the first time in seven years, the 1B state softballchampionship is in the hands of another school besides Colton High School.
Entering the 2015 tournament in Yakima last weekend as the No. 1 seed, the Wildcats lost 9-4 in the second round to state rival Almira-Coulee Hartline.
The loss put Colton into the loser’s bracket where they still would have a chance to take third or fourth.
They beat Curlew Saturday morning 10-0 followed by a 10-4 loss to Quilcene to finish fourth.
The tournament opened for the Wildcats with a 16-0 win over Naselle before things took a turn in their first at-bat against A.C.H. Junior pitcher/third baseman Zoe Moser got on base with a walk.
A pitch later, she took off to steal second, and, running for the base, dropped down to slide as the throw arrived.
The A.C.H. second baseman landed on her, the ball dropping to the dirt. Moser crawled after the bag, as the fielder found the ball and tagged her out.
Moser jogged back to the dugout.
Minutes later, when it was time to go back out on defense, Colton coach Brad Nilson looked to see trainer Kai Seschi taping Moser’s ankle.
Nilson instead sent Winnie Schultheis to the mound to pitch and moved Moser to third base.
She limped around for the half of the inning before Seschi determined her out with a bad sprain.
“All of a sudden your game plan’s been upset in the first inning,” said Nilson.
Jordan Moehrle then moved from left field to third base and Nilson put Abby Keller, another eighth-grader, in left. The lineup change in place, the game resumed.
“I just thought we’d come around and get it done,” said Nilson.
“(But) we just couldn’t get things going.” Now that Moser was out, it was the first time at state since 2009 Colton was without a Moser on the field.
Three older sisters preceded Zoe.
As A.C.H. advanced, Colton then dropped into the loser’s bracket, eventually finishing the tournament with the loss to Quilcene for fourth.
“We couldn’t seem to hit the ball, popping everything up,” Nilson said of the Quilcene game.
The Rangers kept scoring.
“I thought I was gonna get 10-runned,” Nilson said.
His team did get on the scoreboard though, and concluded the game – and their season — losing by six runs.
“I worry about my kids,” Nilson said.
“Everybody keeps asking me how I’m doing.
Why? I get to do it again next year.” Liberty Christian won the state championship, beating A.C.H. 10-2.
Colton beat the Patriots three times during the regular season.
The Wildcats will now graduate two key seniors: Schultheis and Savannah Chadwick.
The summer begins and the opportunity for a new streak will be there next spring.
“They were pretty upset,” Nilson said of his players, regarding the end of the six-year run to the championship.
“That monkey… I don’t even want to say it.”
Garth Meyer is a former Whitman County Gazette reporter.
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