POULSBO — For the North Kitsap fastpitch team, runs against Central Kitsap have been as rare as ice cream trucks in December.
In the last two years, the Vikings have scored exactly zero runs against the Cougars.
That changed Monday afternoon, as Ashley Ellingsen’s triple to deep center field — which was briefly dropped by the Cougar center fielder — gave the Vikings two runs, and a lead over the best team in the Narrows League.
But the lead was quickly erased, then buried, as the Cougars scored a pair of runs in the third and brought five runners home in the sixth to snag a 7-2 lead over their rivals from North Kitsap.
The five-run sixth was marked by a pair of North Kitsap miscues, as well as a controversial play at the plate.
The Cougars sent their entire lineup to bat in that inning. Back-to-back errors let two Cougars on first and second to open the inning, but when NK shortstop Heather Case scooped up a ground ball and fired it home, it briefly seemed like she had redeemed North Kitsap with a play to cut down Cougar Kristi Baumgartner.
But Baumgartner was called safe, and the inning continued. A groundout was followed by a two-RBI triple by Kara Welling an and RBI single by Kara Griepentrog.
“That was a heartbreaker,” Kolda said later. “But we made a couple of mistakes and there was a questionable call at the plate.”
The Vikings had already seen the game tied with a two-RBI double by Griepentrog in the third.
The Cougars’ offensive effort was aided by a stellar performance on the mound by starter Jackie Quint.
After the first two hits of the game — a single by Ashley Stice and Ellingsen’s blast to center — Quint bore down, striking out 11 Vikings and allowing only two more hits.
She walked two of North’s batter, one intentionally.
Her counterpart, Shana McLaughlin, had cruised along well through the first five innings; she gave up only eight hits in the game.
After the game had ended, Central Kitsap coach Bruce Welling pointed not to his team’s bats or Quint’s performance; he pointed to Kara Welling’s running-sliding catch of Case’s hard-hit liner in the second inning.
“If that had gone through,” he said, “it would have been a home run. That would have changed the whole game.”
There was something about right field on Monday. Melissa Allen of North Kitsap had a fine game in the outfield as well, gunning down Cougar Cari Simmons after scooping up Simmons’ soft liner, as well as diving in foul territory to end Quint’s final at-bat.
Kolda was disappointed by the Vikings’ loss, but knew the 8-1 Cougars would be tough to handle.
“They’re a class act,” he said, “and they showed why.”
The Vikings had previously pounded Olympic, beating them 8-1 behind a well-pitched game by Case and a sharp day at the plate by Lisa Gilbert, who belted two home runs and a double in the win.
Central Kitsap 0 0 2 0 0 5 0 – 7 8 0
North Kitsap 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 – 2 5 3
Quint and Griepentrog; McLaughlin and Brenda Stice. W – Quint. L – McLaughlin. Leading hitters: Central Kitsap, Griepentrog 4-4, 2 2B, Welling 2-3, 3B. North Kitsap, Ellingsen 1-3, 3B.
