The long road back — much has changed since Coeur d'Alene's last trip to state in softball in 2019

By MARK NELKE

Sports editor

Alexis Blankenship recalled the last time she — and the Coeur d’Alene High softball team — played in the state tournament.

The year was 2019, but that seems so long ago, considering what has happened since.

“I just remember we kinda started at the bottom and we came back up to the top,” said Blankenship, who started in center field as a freshman in 2019, and now starts at second base as a senior. “And we went to the play-in game, and we won by one run in the last inning, and it was just wild, and we came up here and played state at Post Falls and it was just raining the whole time, and it was awful, but we made the best of it and we tied for third place. And it was just one of the best experiences I’ve ever had.”

Coeur d’Alene was expected to be strong again in 2020 with five solid seniors, but COVID-19 canceled the season before the Vikings could play a game.

Last year, Coeur d’Alene made some noise in a rebuilding year, but ultimately fell short of state.

This year, with much of the same cast of characters returning, the Vikings won the 5A Inland Empire League title for the first time since 2016, won the Region 1 title for the first time since 2015, and are the No. 2 seed for state, which unfolds Friday and Saturday at Coeur d’Alene and Lake City high schools.

“Last year, I knew it was going to be a tough year, because we had a young pitcher/catcher duo, and we had a young team. We had one senior,” said Coeur d’Alene coach Bobbi Darretta, who took over the Vikings’ program in that 2019 season. “(Assistant coach) Mike (Dorame) and I told them, we’re going to work really hard … and we’re going to have a losing season. And they did, but they really progressed.”

Coeur d’Alene finished 7-15 last season. This year, the Vikings are 18-2, and open state against No. 7 seed Thunder Ridge (17-9) of Idaho Falls on Friday at 11 a.m. at Coeur d’Alene High.

ONE OF those youngsters from the past two seasons who has emerged as one of the leaders this year is pitcher Kristine Schmidt, a junior.

Two years ago, as a freshman, Schmidt was one of several new arms Darretta was looking at to step in in the circle, since the ace from the Vikings’ 2019 state team had graduated.

The 2020 season, of course, never happened, but Schmidt emerged last year as a sophomore and was named Newcomer of the Year in the 5A IEL. This year, she sports a 14-1 record and a 2.55 ERA, with 95 strikeouts in 96 innings.

“Just feel real grateful that I’ve had Bobbi to coach me and make me improve,” Schmidt said. “Before I found her I was not the best pitcher at all. I’ve really gotten a lot better.”

Darretta, who starred as a pitcher at Lake City High two decades ago, leading the Timberwolves to a state title in 2001, is a private pitching coach in addition to her Viking coaching duties. She works with several young pitchers in the area, and several area schools.

Darretta started working with Schmidt the summer before her eighth-grade year.

“She threw hard for her age when I got her,” Darretta recalled.”At the time she had thrown one inning in travel ball — ONE INNING. That’s the summer that I got her. She threw the ball hard, but she was very wild, she hadn’t had enough reps.”

So Darretta worked on getting her more reps, and more consistent.

“She developed quickly, and got lots of reps in, and started taking over,” Darretta said. “And I keep telling her all the time, ‘You’re the best pitcher in the state.’ And one day, she’s going to believe it, because it’s true.”

Blankenship (.415) is one of eight Vikings hitting .400 or better, and has three of Cd’A’s 11 homers. Junior first baseman Matea Dorame, one of those youngsters as a freshman, is batting a team-high .538. Junior catcher Delaney Gosch, who transferred in from Lakeland this season, is batting .474 and shares the team lead in RBIs with Dorame with 29.

Leadoff hitter Skylar Burke, one of only two seniors on the team, is batting .421 and has scored 34 runs, second only to Blankenship’s 37.

Coeur d’Alene, one of the most storied programs in Idaho softball history, shockingly didn’t have enough turnout to field a junior varsity team the past four seasons. This year, the Vikings have a JV team for the first time under Darretta, and the first time since 2017.

That will help with continuity in future years, she said.

This year, she has tasked her upperclassmen with working with the underclassmen in practice, in part to help build a bond between the two teams.

“I love Bobbi’s energy,” Blankenship said. “She always has us united as a team, just making sure we have each other’s backs. And that’s huge for me, just having that family feeling.”

“I wanted us to have unity,” Darretta said. “I wanted us to be scrappy, like we didn’t give up, and we were excited for each other. I just wanted to create a positive atmosphere … I knew working hard, discipline and unity would get us through.”

From 1995, the first season of fastpitch in Idaho, through 2016, Coeur d’Alene qualified for state in 20 of 22 seasons. During that span, the Vikings won five state titles, finished second eight times, and brought home 16 trophies all told.

But the Vikings had gone to state just once since 2016.

Until this season.

With a former Lake City standout now coaching the Timberwolves’ rival.

Or “rival,” since players from both schools often play together on club teams.

“I think it would be pretty neat to give both schools a state title with me involved,” Darretta said. “Because when I was growing up here, Coeur d’Alene had a phenomenal program, and so when I found out what it had gone to, that kinda bugged me. Half the girls on my travel ball team (when I was at Lake City), more than half, were Coeur d’Alene girls. And so, I have a high respect for Coeur d’Alene High School in my eyes. The fact that I can be part of the two 5A schools here in the Coeur d’Alene district makes me very happy.”

Added Schmidt:

“It would be really cool to be remembered as one of the people that helped bring back the program, and get it to where it was. For a few years, CHS was kinda forgotten, and the underdogs, but we’ve worked our way back, and we’ve proved people wrong.”

Darretta thought about Burke and Blankenship, the two remaining players from that 2019 team that finished tied for third in a rain-affected state tourney, and the disjointed journey they’ve been through as high school athletes.

“Those two seniors are probably two of the hardest-working athletes that I’ve met,” Darretta said. “And they’re so amazing in the classroom. They’ve been through hardships, and they’ve won amazing awards, and … I admire them. My daughter looks up to them; I feel like they’re part of my own. I understand them so well … they respect and trust me, and I respect and trust them. They have really touched my heart, and I know they’ll do wonderful things in their life.”