SILVERDALE — Maybe it’s time to put some money on the Boston Red Sox to take the World Series.
Maybe Zippy Chippy, the infamous race horse who ran 97 races without a win, will finally find the winner’s circle.
Because the North Kitsap fastpitch team hadn’t beat the Central Kitsap Cougars — ever — and on Friday afternoon they beat them twice in one day.
The Vikings scored a run on a dropped third strike to beat the Cougars 3-2 in the continuation of a game delayed from last month, then pounded out eight hits to batter CK 8-1 in the second game.
“It’s a rare feeling for North Kitsap,” Vikings’ Head Coach Dan Kolda said.
None of the coaches could remember with 100 percent certainty if the Vikings had beat CK since the 1991-92 season, when the Olympic League introduced fastpitch, but Cougars Head Coach Bruce Welling didn’t think they had.
North Kitsap assistant coach Bob Case, who has been with the program since 1995, is sure the Vikings’ drought against the Cougars extends at least that far.
The wins on Friday helped the Vikings (5-2 in Narrows League Bridge Division) stay in the hunt for a top-four finish in the league.
The Cougars’ (1-5) attempt to turn around a disappointing season continues.
“When you lose like we lost today, it’s not a good feeling,” Welling said.
The first “game” was only one inning long, the extension of an extra-innings affair that was called on account of darkness March 27.
A runner was set at second base to start each half of the inning, but Central Kitsap failed to score in the top of the 10th after runner Hattye Potter got thrown by NK catcher Lisa Gilbert.
The Vikings took advantage in the bottom of the inning when Brenda Stice, who had advanced to third on a fielder’s choice by Jamie Heins, scored on a dropped third strike and a throw to first.
North Kitsap then turned on the offense in the second game, starting the scoring with a three-run first marked by Jamie Heins’ two-run home run.
“I was taught to run, no matter what kind of hit it is,” Heins said. “I was rounding the bases when I saw it was gone.”
The Vikings also produced a two-run third and a three-run fourth sparked by a costly throwing error.
“We made too many little mistakes, and we didn’t hit well enough,” Welling said.
North Kitsap’s Heather Case held Central Kitsap to only two hits in the game.
The Cougars’ only run came from Emily Zygomontowicz’s RBI single in the third inning.
North Kitsap 3, Central Kitsap 2
Central Kitsap 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 – 2 5 0
North Kitsap 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 1 – 3 4 2
Jackie Quint and Kristi Baumgartner; Heather Case and Lisa Gilbert. Leading hitters, Central Kitsap: Baumgartner 2-3, 2B. North Kitsap: Ashley Stice 1-3, 3B.
North Kitsap 8, Central Kitsap 1
North Kitsap 3 0 2 3 0 0 0 – 8 8 0
Central Kitsap 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 – 1 2 3
Quint, Sheena Stangler (5) and Baumgartner; Case and Gilbert. Leading hitters, North Kitsap: Jamie Heins 2-3, HR, 3 RBI, Case 1-3, 2B, RBI. Central Kitsap: Emily Zygomontowicz 1-2, RBI.
