SPOKANE — For 14 innings at the state Class 4A fastpitch softball tournament Friday, the chalk circle in the middle of the infield was the calmest spot at the Dwight Merkel Sports Complex.
Whenever Camas pitcher Katie Schroeder stepped into the circle, she turned it into an island of zen.
The unflappable senior calmly fired back-to-back shutouts to power the Papermakers into this morning’s state semifinals, where they face Tahoma at 9 a.m.
“I have so much confidence in my teammates — that they’re going to make plays behind me and pick me up — that I really am that calm,” she said.
Take the final three outs of Camas’ 3-0 win over Redmond in the quarterfinal as a prime example.
Schroeder surrendered the hardest hit ball of the day to lead off the seventh inning, a ground-rule double to Amirah Milloy, to start the inning. No worries.
Schroeder struck out the next batter. The next batter earned a hard-won walk and suddenly the Mustangs had runners at the corners with one out and the tying run coming to the plate. Nervous? Not even close.
Schroeder coaxed the next two hitters to pop the ball up to end the game,
“I think Katie got a little tired in that game,” Camas coach Tim Searight said. “But we pride ourselves on making plays, and we did just that.”
Camas got the winning run in the third when Schroeder smacked a hard grounder to short that was mishandled, breaking a scoreless tie.
But aggressive baserunning kept Camas from breaking the game open. Twice the Papermakers lined out a Redmond infielder who doubled up a baserunner who ventured too far off base.
“We’re an aggressive team,” Searight said. “We’ve been aggressive one the bases all year long. This time Redmond made us pay for it, but we’re not going to change what we’re doing at this late date.”
The opener, a 2-0 win over Gig Harbor, was dominated by Schroeder, who struck out 13 while scattering just four hits.
“My catcher called a great game,” Schroeder said, passing the credit to freshman catcher Abby Wong. “Our relationship has developed over time. At first, our coach called the game for us, but as she’s learned how I pitch and what I’m good at, she’s taken over and called games. She called both games today.”
Alli Hancock scored the winning run in the first inning, ripping the first pitch she saw for an RBI triple to right field.
Schroeder added an insurance run by driving a run-scoring double over the center fielder’s head in the third.
Schroeder said the key to her first two games was in what she did not do to prepare.
“I was tired after we won district and clinched state,” she said. “I took off five whole days and rested. I think that really helped me be ready to come out strong.”
Searight credited his team’s experience in Spokane for the strong start to the tournament.
“Our seniors have been great leaders for us all year and they’ve been to state all four years and been to Spokane the last three,” he said. “Our juniors and seniors were here two years ago when we lost in the finals and that experience is crucial.”
Battle Ground — The Tigers got off to a strong start in their opener, but could not close the door.
Alexis Morrison rapped an RBI single in the first inning for a 1-0 lead. Haley Buck did the same in the top of the third and Morrison crushed an RBI triple to score another run and Destiny Davenport scored Morrison with an infield single that made it 4-0.
Richland scored in the bottom of the third, and scored four runs in the bottom of the fifth to take the lead, 5-4.
Freshman pitcher Brandi Andrews got stronger as the game wore on and blanked the Tigers over the final four innings.
Jackson took control of the consolation game early and eliminated the Tigers, 5-1.
