STATE HIGH SCHOOL SOFTBALL TOURNAMENTS: All the right moves — Position changes, freshmen stepping up have propelled Coeur d’Alene back to state in softball

By MARK NELKE

Sports editor

The puzzle of where to place her players in the lineup can come to Bobbi Darretta in the middle of the night.

“And I wake up and go ‘there, there, there, there,’ and that’s what we’ll do,” the fifth-year Coeur d’Alene High softball coach said. 

In this instance, the puzzle came to Darretta during a series of three games in the Tri-Cities in mid-March to open the season.

After the second game of the season (both losses), the first of two on that Saturday, Darretta hopped on the bus before the team’s third game and told them of her lineup changes.

She moved freshman Kyndal Bridge from shortstop to catcher, moved sophomore Abbey Linder from catcher to third base, and freshman Molly Nelson, the fourth outfielder who had also played some at third base, to shortstop.

Coincidence or not, Coeur d’Alene won that next game, and has gone 19-3 since making the switch.

The Vikings won the Inland Empire League, then won the 5A Region 1 tournament to advance to state for the third straight year. Eighth-seeded Coeur d’Alene (19-5) opens vs. top seed Owyhee (20-2) of Meridian in a first-round game Thursday at 5:15 p.m. at Post Falls High.

As for those early season moves …

“I knew Abbey Linder would be one of the best third basemans in the league, and I’ve been wanting to put her there eventually,” Darretta said. “Kyndal’s framing is fantastic, and I told Kyndal, ‘We need to give our pitchers strikes. We have young, inexperienced pitchers, and right now that’s our focus, the more strikes you can give them, the better they will be,’ so that’s what needed to happen.”

“Kyndal’s incredible,” Viking freshman pitcher Jenna Davenport said. “She’s got amazing frames; I can’t do it without her.”

Nelson had never played short before, but Darretta said with her speed and hitting ability, she had to find a place for her in the lineup. Hard work brought her up to speed on defense.

Sophomore Sophia Vignale, who has played at third base, first and center field, was transformed into a slap hitter.

“We just built the team for speed, and we built several slappers,” Darretta said. “I don’t think the league has seen anything like this.”

After three seasons of Kristine Schmidt, now pitching at North Idaho College, throwing nearly every inning for the Vikings, Darretta has two pitchers this year in Davenport (9-1) and junior Leah Nordman (5-2).

Davenport started the year at first base when she wasn’t pitching, but to keep her pitchers fresh, Darretta brought up freshman Maddy Pratt from JV and put her at first, while still keeping Davenport’s bat in the lineup as a DH. 

Davenport (.417) is Coeur d’Alene’s second-leading hitter, behind Bridge (.461).

Davenport is the daughter of former Viking star Patti (Stranger) Davenport, who went on to play at Whitworth.

“My mom has been my coach for so many years, for travel ball,” Jenna said. “And the coolest thing about it is, while she’s my coach, she does a great job of being my mom during the moment. She’s super supportive all the time. Her biggest thing is, she always says, ‘Do you know how much I love you?’ She always reminds me of that, and it’s so supportive because that just keeps me going.”

The Vikings have taken experienced teams to state the past two seasons, going 1-2 in 2022 and two-and-out last year.

This year, four freshmen and two sophomores play key roles. After a few down seasons, the Vikings are trying to re-develop the tradition they’ve had for decades, when they were perennial state contenders.

So the youngsters, particularly the freshmen, have had to grow up fast.

“To be honest, we’re just happy to be here; we weren’t supposed to be here,” Darretta said of state.

“It proves that with our young team, we can do anything,” sophomore right fielder Morgan Knutson said. “We’ve worked so hard for this since January, and it’s very cool to see all that hard work pay off.”