Season of success ends at softball quarterfinal

Published 10:06 am Saturday, May 26, 2018

The Grant Union Prospector girls met their match in the Clatskanie Tigers.

The Prospectors ended the two-day OSAA Softball State Championship quarterfinal matchup in John Day with a heartbreaking 7-6 loss.

A lightning delay in the top of the seventh inning caused a break in the drama of a close game with a closely matched team Friday afternoon, and the action continued Saturday morning.

“They played well, they played hard, they never gave up,” said Grant Union head coach Zach Williams. “I told them there was more adversity in this game than I’ve ever experienced in my coaching and playing career.”

The Grant Union players left an indelible impression on their supportive fans during the two-day game, with exciting moments, including two homers from Prospector senior Brianna Zweygardt for 3 RBIs, plus another RBI off a single, and a double play when short stop junior Madi McKrola threw to second baseman senior Whitney McClellan for an out, who threw to junior Macy Strong at first for a second out to close the top of the sixth inning.

Grant Union pitcher senior Cody Jo Madden started in the circle for the Prospectors, and senior Mariah Moulton relieved in the bottom half of the third. Zweygardt pitched the fifth through the seventh innings on Friday, and Madden returned on Saturday morning.

Clatskanie, led by head coach Kevin Sprague, had Tiger freshman Shelby Blodgett pitching a full game.

Grant Union entered the game with a 22-2 overall record, while Clatskanie had a 21-3 record.

The Prospectors were first on the scoreboard after junior Hailie Wright hit a double, then scored a run off Zweygardt’s single in the bottom of the first.

The Tigers scored in the third inning.

Moulton doubled in the bottom of the inning, sending Wright home, then Zweygardt hit the 2-run homer for a 4-1 lead.

Clatskanie scored 2 runs in the fourth, but left two runners on base, then led 5-4 after scoring 2 more runs in the fifth.

Grant Union tied the score in the sixth 5-5, when Wright singled, sending Strong home.

Strong caught for the first out of the seventh. Then the Tigers scored and one was walked.

After a 30-minute lightning delay, Clatskanie came back to score another run.

The Tigers had a 7-5 lead when another lightning delay was followed by a heavy downpour, and the game was paused until Saturday morning.

Williams said he’d experienced rainouts before, but nothing like this game.

“To go home, sleep on it, think about it, and think of how your season will end if you don’t get 2 runs in one inning is rough,” he said. “These girls came back ready to go this morning — just felt committed and ready to go.”

Madden came in to pitch, picking up where the game left off.

“She threw a drop ball on the inside corner, then a change up down in the zone for a swinging strike, then hanging to the outside corner again for strike three with a drop ball,” Williams said. “Then Bri comes up and hits a home run, just how I thought about it.”

But the Tigers were able to field the final outs of the game.

Williams said the Tigers are young with six starting freshmen, and are a well-coached team.

“The girls have been playing ASA travel ball together since they were 7 — those freshmen didn’t play like freshmen at all,” he said. “The pitcher threw low to mid-60s which is collegiate-level speed.”

Williams said his team played hard and never gave up.

“It’s a great group of girls,” he said. “They deserve better. I wish things would have ended differently.”

He added, “Softball’s a great game because it’s a team sport, and you’ve gotta put the whole thing together. You’ve got to play every pitch every inning all game long. Little things add up to big things, and these girls fought hard, and we had some great senior leaders.”

This year’s seniors were Madden, Zweygardt (a Prairie City student athlete), McClellan, Moulton, Tressa Ranft and Reagan Shelley.

Williams said he felt they were competitive enough for the state title as a 3A team.

Next year, they’ll drop to the 2A class.

“We’ll have good teams,” he said. “We’re always going to put out a competitive team because we’re going to work hard.”

Madden, who was Pitcher of the Year for Special District 2, said her team had an awesome season.

“It was a season other teams only dream about, with only two losses,” she said. “I want to wish the best of luck to the underclassmen the rest of their high school ball years.”