TACOMA — In a season in which the North Kitsap Vikings’ fastpitch team dominated the Narrows’ Bridge Division, hopes for the postseason were elevated to the loftiest of goals.
But those hopes were dashed in one day’s worth of state competition, sending home the most talented and successful Viking team coach Dan Kolda said he’s ever coached.
“It was extremely disappointing, especially after the season the program had been having,” said Kolda. “We were going into this tournament with real optimism but, unfortunately, it just didn’t work out the way we’d expected.”
On Friday, North first faced Kentlake, the South Puget Sound League’s No. 6 team. Though the Vikings held a 1-0 lead through five innings, Kentlake put up two runs in the bottom of the sixth to take the lead and North Kitsap failed to tie the game in the top of the seventh, losing a 2-1 heartbreaker.
“They took the lead and that was a huge blow to us,” Kolda said. “We expected to win that game.”
To add to the Vikings’ woes, Rodgers upset one of the state’s best teams, the No. 2 Southwest Prairie Falcons, whom North would have to play in the loser-out game. NK only had about an hour and a half between games to prepare for its second contest.
“There was just an air of shock and I think that partially for the first time this year that the girls were just overconfident,” Kolda said.
Down 1-0 against Prairie, North’s Rachel Kramer hit a home run to tie the game. But Prairie rebounded with two more runs in the top of the fifth and North never answered, losing 3-1 and ending the Vikes’ season.
“It was a good game — we went toe-to-toe with them for quite a while,” Kolda said. “(But) we were facing a very, very good pitcher (in Prairie’s Brooke Woodward).”
Despite the games, Kolda said he still believes the Vikings’ bats had more potential to do damage on the year.
“One of the things I felt was our strength all season turned out to be our weakness — we didn’t hit enough,” Kolda said. “We have on paper probably one of the best hitting teams around.
“We left a lot of runners on the bases and didn’t get them home,” Kolda added. “We had a tremendous lack of productivity.”
Nonetheless, hindsight will prove positive, the NK coach said, allowing time to heal wounds and reveal what a breakthrough season North Kitsap really had.
“The whole season was a positive experience and that’s going to feel more prevalent as time goes on,” Kolda commented. “As we get farther away from that, the sense of accomplishment will feel more pronounced.”
A team that beat Central Kitsap and South Kitsap twice this year and brought home a Bridge Division Title, Kolda said the girls have much to brag about.
“This is the best record any fastpitch team at North Kitsap has had,” Kolda said of his 16-6 season. “They’ve made history for North Kitsap.”
Seven seniors will make their exodus from high school and some may vie to play college ball, Kolda said. Brenda Stice will likely walk onto Seattle University’s team; Heather Case has scholarship opportunities at numerous colleges including Central Washington and Whitworth; Jamie Heins and Lisa Gilbert are looking at junior college to make their starts.
NK does have much talent moving up in the ranks, with Rachel Kramer, Coreena Stout and Melody Griffin all with two more years of fastpitch ball to play in high school.
However things pan out, the season that was for the Vikings will be one to remember — one that coach Kolda will remember fondly.
“We can look back on the season and be proud of what we accomplished,” Kolda said. “It was a ride of a lifetime and I wouldn’t have traded it for the world.”
