THE FRONT ROW with MARK NELKE: Coeur d’Alene High senior pitcher Kristine Schmidt is the ‘engine’ of the Vikings

Kristine Schmidt has been a fixture in the circle for the Coeur d’Alene High softball team for the past three seasons.

Particularly the past two.

The senior has pitched 150.1 innings — all but seven innings logged by Viking pitchers this year — headed into the state 5A tournament which begins Friday in Idaho Falls.

As a junior, she threw 114.1 innings, or all but 25.1 innings thrown that year by Coeur d’Alene hurlers.

She usually starts both ends of doubleheaders — and if she doesn’t start the second game, she usually finishes it.

It’s quite the workload, especially at the 5A level.

But especially this year, Schmidt has been up to the challenge.

“I think it just comes with lots and lots of practice, a lot of working on my stamina,” said Schmidt, who is 19-3 this year, with a 1.40 ERA and 200 strikeouts in those 150.1 innings. “And in the offseason, I pitched all year round, with maybe a month off, when you pitch so much, you just kind of get used to it, and it becomes a regular thing.”

OF COURSE, it helps to have a former star pitcher as a head coach.

Coeur d’Alene coach Bobbi Darretta led Lake City to the state title in 2001, then went on to pitch at Walla Walla Community College and at Kentucky.

“She is an engine,” Darretta said of Schmidt. “ Kristine has always had an engine. She’s very strong. She doesn’t give up. She’s been like this since I met her, and we’ve been pitching together. She’s just … strong. She just keeps going …

“She’s one of those kids that is so strong, it takes her a little while to loosen up, and that’s what I need for her shoulders to be loose so she can pitch hard,” Darretta said. “She actually usually pitches faster her second game. … she gets loosened up.”

Schmidt, who has signed with North Idaho College, was a freshman in 2020 — the year spring sports were canceled due to COVID-19.

As a sophomore, she was part of a Viking team that finished 7-15.

“Sophomore year, it started out rough, but with Bobbi, it’s super helpful having a pitching coach as a coach,” Schmidt recalled. “It definitely helps a lot. There were a lot of times when I was afraid, ‘Am I going to get better this year?’ … definitely I think I’ve gotten better over the years.”

Last year, Schmidt finished 15-3 with a 3.00 ERA, and 108 strikeouts in those 114.1 innings. The Vikings won the Region 1 title last year, and went 1-2 at state.

She said the turning point in her pitching career was “probably last year, against Lewiston, that’s when I hit 64 (mph) and I thought ‘Wow, I actually might be good at this, maybe I can make it,’” she said.

Last year, Schmidt was throwing between 59 and 64 mph, closer to 64 by the end of the season.

“I think I’ve always had confidence in her (as a pitcher), because we work so much as a team,” said senior Delaney Gosch, her catcher the past two seasons. “It's crazy, because if she misses a spot, I know where she’s going to miss. We just read each other so well.”

This year, Schmidt has hit 66 on the gun.

SPEAKING OF hitting …

Schmidt is batting .395 this year, with a team-high six home runs. Her 27 RBIs are tied for second on the club.

“Bobbi’s definitely been working on that with me,” Schmidt said of hitting. “I’ve definitely made a lot of changes. We hit 2, 3 times a week. Last year I started getting better, because I got a lot more experience hitting … it just comes with lots and lots of practice.”

Coeur d’Alene, the No. 6 seed, opens state vs. No. 3 Kuna (18-5) on Friday at 10 a.m. PDT at Thunder Ridge High.

NO MATTER how strong a pitcher is, asking her to pitch three games in one day is a bit much for anyone, particularly at the 5A level.

But after two strong outings on day one at state last year, against Thunder Ridge of Idaho Falls and Timberline of Boise, fatigue finally caught up to Schmidt in a loss to Eagle that ended the Vikings’ season.

“The last game, that was so sad,” Schmidt recalled. “I feel like at the end of the second game, I was definitely getting a bit fatigued, and we had just lost that second game, and we were all down, so going into that third game, it wasn’t the same mentality we had.”

If the Vikings have to play three games in one game this year at state, Schmidt thinks she is more equipped to handle it.

“Because I’ve been working a lot on (stamina), in travel ball and especially in high school, as long as I stay focused,” she said.

Don’t count out the “engine.”

Mark Nelke is sports editor of The Press. He can be reached at 208-664-8176, Ext. 2019, or via email at mnelke@cdapress.com. Follow him on Twitter @CdAPressSports.