Stangel, Leddy shine for Lake City
COEUR d'ALENE - Casey Stangel was her usual dominant self - albeit under unusual circumstances Friday afternoon.
But Avalon Leddy also had her moment in the sun - and yes, there was finally sunshine this spring - as the Lake City Timberwolves blanked the Post Falls Trojans 4-0 in 5A Inland Empire League softball play at Lake City.
Stangel struck out a school-record 17, breaking her old mark of 16, set just 17 days earlier, and pitched a one-hitter with one walk - despite waking up at 4 a.m. with a case of food poisoning, and having to deal with the illness all day.
"I've seen some athletes in the past play some of their best games under the weather," Lake City coach Laura Tolzmann said. "It was awesome to see her do that under those circumstances."
Leddy, a senior left fielder, smacked the first home run of her life in the fourth inning - a line shot down the line and over the left field fence to hike Lake City's lead to 3-0.
"It felt amazing - it was one of those things where you don't want to have a great big cheesy grin, but it came up anyway," said Leddy, who was mobbed at home plate by her delighted teammates. “At first, I thought I popped it up. I saw it clear the fence, and I didn’t know what I was thinking. I was happy.”
Stangel, a sophomore, lined a two-run home run over the center field fence in the first inning for Lake City (6-0, 3-0 5A IEL). Katie Rowe’s RBI single in the fifth completed the scoring.
The left-handed Stangel struck out the first six batters, and 10 of the first 12. She hit a batter leading off the third inning. Michelle Booth had the lone hit for Post Falls (2-7, 0-3) — a routine fly ball to left field which fell for a single as Lake City’s outfielders were shifted way over toward right field.
“I didn’t think we played too badly today; we made a couple of mistakes that gave them a couple of runs,” said Post Falls coach Jack Foster, whose Trojans were missing their starting second baseman and shortstop. “I don’t know if we were intimidated (by Stangel), but I thought we were a little timid up there.”
The Timberwolves have still yet to allow a run this season.
Post Falls 000 000 0 — 0 1 1
Lake City 200 110 x — 4 9 1
Rachel Collins and Dara Kolar; Casey Stangel and Mariah Linahan. W — Stangel (6-0). L — Collins (2-5).
HITS: PF — Booth. LC — Short 2, Shippy 2, Stangel 2, Rowe, Leddy, Linahan. 2B — Linahan. HR — Stangel (2), Leddy (1).