West softball escapes jam, earns spot at state
Coach Steve Saladino could only shake his head when told his Davenport West all-state hurler Jamie Davis needed 54 pitches in the final two innings to escape a pair of bases-loaded jams Wednesday night in the Class 4A regional softball championship.
The gutty graduated senior, who just returned to the mound last week from a pulled hamstring injury suffered against Bettendorf, made the big pitches when needed in the sixth and seventh innings to spoil North Scott’s bid for a state tournament berth, 1-0, at the West softball complex.
The victory over the Mississippi Athletic Conference co-champion Lancers sent West to the state meet for the sixth time in school history. At state, the No. 14-ranked Falcons (28-12) will meet No. 9 Sioux City North (32-9) in the opening round at 6:30 p.m. on July 17 in Fort Dodge.
“Jamie (Davis) is a hell of a competitor; it would have taken a miracle for me to take out my senior all-stater,’’ Saladino said. “We were going to ride the wave with her on the mound.’’
Davis missed 12 games with her injury as the Falcons — ranked No. 1 at one point this season — went 5-7 without her in the lineup.
“We had started the season so well and then we went into a slump,’’ said Davis, who allowed four hits, struck out 10 and walked three. “But I and the rest of the team worked hard to get back where we had been because we knew we had a chance to go to state.’’
She returned last week for a two-game tourney at Keokuk, where West won twice, plus for the two triumphs in the regional.
“When she got hurt, my heart dropped because we’re not very deep,’’ Saladino said. “Not only is she our top pitcher but she bats cleanup and is hitting around .360. We had to change some people around and we took some lumps.’’
A couple of those lumps without Davis were identical 9-2 regular-season setbacks to North Scott.
But there was only one run scored in Wednesday’s game, that coming in the fifth off tough-luck losing pitcher Brie Haycraft. A one-out single by Allie Wilkinson, a sacrifice by Hailey Nichol, an infield single by Caitlin Nichol that moved Wilkinson to third and Steph Dorton’s two-strike RBI single to left-center.
“After our slump, we knew it was a new season, and our goal all along was to make it to the state tourney,’’ Dorton said. “In my first two at-bats, I hadn’t done well (a grounder to short and a pop fly to short) and I knew we needed a hit in that situation. I hit an outside pitch for the hit, and now we’re going to state which is everyone’s dream.’’
The dream almost turned into a nightmare for the Falcons in the late innings.
Nursing a 1-0 lead, Davis got into trouble in the sixth on a one-out single by Kelli Shimp, an error and a walk with two down. But on a 3-2 count, Davis whiffed Brittani Yost.
In the seventh, the Lancers’ Dana Suiter singled with one out, and after a strikeout, Davis walked Kacie Norton and Shimp to load the sacks again. But Shari Huber hit a foul pop fly past third base where Shyanne Saladino snatched the ball for the third out and cement the trip to state.
“North Scott has such good hitters, and all I was trying to do was focus on what I was doing,’’ Davis said. “I was nervous in both innings but I’m sure everybody on our team was nervous.’’
Lancers’ coach Dennis Johnson gave credit to West but was disappointed with his team’s approach at times at the plate.
“Davis threw well as did Brie (Haycraft, who gave up seven hits while striking out four and issuing no walks),’’ he said. “We swung at some bad pitches, and that was the first time we’ve been shutout all season. In a game like this one, it’s a tough, tough loss to take.’’
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