TACOMA — Dan Kolda may be a wily pitcher with years of experience, but he couldn’t sneak anything by the North Kitsap fastpitch team this week.
Kolda, the Vikings’ head coach, claims he downplayed the importance of North Kitsap’s seeding game against Capital on Monday afternoon.
But the Vikings knew what was at stake and responded with a 10-0 win over the Cougars.
Starter Heather Case struck out eight batters and yielded only two hits as North Kitsap solidified its position in the district playoffs.
The win allowed NK to play the second-ranked team in the West Central District III in the first round of district playoffs on May 23, rather than a more formidable first seed.
North Kitsap (10-5) will play Auburn Riverside (14-3) from the South Puget Sound League at 1 p.m. May 23 at Sprinker Recreation Center in Tacoma.
“We would have put ourselves in a bad position if we had lost,” catcher Lisa Gilbert said.
Gilbert led the Vikings at the plate with two hits and four RBIs, including the big hit, a two-RBI triple, in a six-run sixth inning.
The triple also provided the comical highlight of the game as a wide-eyed Gilbert spun around third and raced home — until a throw from the third baseman to home plate left her trapped on the baseline.
Gilbert scurried into third safely and the on-deck batter — left fielder Brenda Stice — trotted to third and hugged her teammate.
Kolda said the win leaves North Kitsap in better position.
“If we want to make a run at state, we needed this game,” he said. “We’re hot, and I’m not afraid to play anyone… but you have to play the odds.”
North Kitsap, the No. 3 team in the Narrows League Bridge Division, has been a hotter-hitting club since it last faced Capital on March 28.
“Everyone chipped in today. We were getting runs from everywhere in the lineup,” Gilbert said.
Case agreed.
“Everyone wanted a piece of the ball today,” she said.
Most of them got it; seven batters got one hit or more.
Cougars Head Coach Mel Weems said that Capital (10-5) now has a tougher road to travel thanks to the loss.
Only seven of the 16 teams in the West Central District tournament will go to state.
“You play better, you get the better reward,” he said.
NOTES: Kolda said that Case’s success came thanks to her control. “Her control was impeccable,” he said of the starter… The Vikings’ last game against Capital was one they would probably like to forget. When North Kitsap and Capital met for a regular-season game in Poulsbo on March 28, the Cougars squeezed past NK 5-3. The Cougars’ first three runs scored on errors… The Cougars’ only hits came from Megan Crager, who singled in the fifth, and Maggie Goldenberger, who singled in the sixth … The game saw a rarity; the infield fly rule was invoked twice as North Kitsap had baserunners on.
North Kitsap 10 at Capital 0
North Kitsap 1 2 0 0 1 6 X – 10 10 1
Capital 0 0 0 0 0 0 X – 0 2 4
Cari Clees and Kira Walker; Heather Case and Lisa Gilbert. W – Case. L – Clees. Leading hitters, North Kitsap: Gilbert, 2-4, 4 RBI, Case 2-4, 3B. Capital: None.
