All smiles in Rathdrum
RATHDRUM — With two out in the bottom of the seventh inning, it was up to Lakeland senior Teri Glenn to either send the game to extra innings or the Hawks back to the state 4A tournament.
Glenn’s single through the middle of the infield scored Jordan Jewell from second base as the Hawks rallied to score two runs in the seventh inning to beat the Moscow Bears 4-3 in the Region 1 softball championship game on Saturday afternoon.
Trailing by a run with two out, Lakeland’s Tifani Schorzman reached on an error and came around to tie the game on an RBI single by Jewell — setting the stage for Glenn.
“I had to do it,” Glenn said. “I knew I had to get it done. I saw the pitch coming straight down the middle and it looked like a giant beach ball.”
Lakeland (15-6) will face Kuna (20-5) in the opening round on Friday at Twin Falls High at 9 a.m. PDT.
“I can’t wait to get to state,” Glenn said. “I went my sophomore year and it should be a great time. We’re all real powerful players and know when it’s time to work hard.”
“We really came up as a team and pulled it together,” Lakeland coach Colleen Bevacqua said. “I’m really proud of all of them. Teri’s came up big for us a lot — Jordan has came up big for us. It’s great because if someone is off, someone else is usually there to pick her up.”
Moscow took a 1-0 lead in the first inning when Lakeland committed two errors to allow Raelynn Gosse to score. Lakeland trailed 2-0 before junior Bekah Kastning hit her fifth home run of the season, over the center field fence, to make it 2-1 after the fifth inning.
Kristin Klopatek struck out six for Lakeland.
“She pitched great,” Bevacqua said. “She really threw hard. They’ve got some tough batters that we’ve got to battle through — especially their catcher (Dezerae Maxey). She did a wonderful job today.”
Maxey went 0 for 3 after reaching on an error in the first inning.
“My adrenaline was going really good in the last inning,” Klopatek said. “I was hoping we’d come through with some hits. The defense was great behind me all game.”
In the fifth inning, Moscow’s Hailey Adams singled to the right-center gap, but was thrown out trying to advance to second base by Schorzman.
“Everyone has contributed this year,” Bevacqua said. “It’s not just one player that has came up big. There’s not just one girl we can turn to.”
Moscow finished 11-12 under first-year coach Don Mechem.
“Lakeland played like they always do,” Mechem said. “They played tough and didn’t give up. They played through the seventh inning and that wins it for them a lot of the time — and it did again today.”
Moscow 100 011 0 — 3 7 2
Lakeland 000 011 2 — 4 6 3
Two out when winning run scored.
Raelynn Gosse and Dezerae Maxey; Kristin Klopatek and Kendra Rebal. W — Klopatek (15-5). L — Gosse.
HITS: Mos — Adams 2, Baker 2, Papineau, Chandler 2. LL — Kastning 2, Card, Rebal, Jewell, Glenn. 2B — Papineau, Rebal. HR — Kastning (5).