Sweep of Riverside puts Lady Hawks in thick of GNL softball playoff hunt

By JOHN McCALLUM

Editor

The Cheney softball team’s doubleheader last Friday at

Riverside was offensive – literally.

The Lady Hawks and Lady Rams combined for 46 hits,

with Cheney smacking 25, including four home runs to sweep

Riverside 6-5 and 15-9, pulling into a three-way tie for fifth

in the Great Northern League and one game from potentially

moving as high as third.

Cheney needed their last at bat to pull off the win in game

one. The Lady Hawks took a 4-1 lead after one inning, scoring

four runs in the bottom of the first, three on a Gracie Pitts’

home run.

Riverside clawed back, tying the game in the third courtesy

of a Cheney error, a pair of walks and back-to-back RBI

singles. Lady Hawks’ pitcher Nicole Lane stroked a solo home

run in the bottom of the inning giving Cheney a 5-4 lead, but

Riverside tied it with a run in the sixth, a pair of singles and

a wild pitch.

In the bottom of the seventh, Samee Silvieus led off with a

single down the third base line and reached second on Ryelynn

Mendoza’s single. Both players executed the double steal successfully

and Sierra Vijarro brought home Silvieus with the

game winner on a single back up the middle.

Lane (3-5) got the win on the mound, going the distance in

giving up five runs, two earned, on 11 hits while striking out

five and walking three.

In game two the bats really came alive. The Lady Hawks

took a 3-0 lead in the top of the first, with Mendoza scoring on

a passed ball and Mandy McDowell hitting a 2RBI single.

Riverside took a brief 4-3 lead with a run in the first and

three in the second before Cheney essentially decided the game

in the top of the third. The Lady Hawks scored 10 runs, six

coming on three-run home runs by McDowell and Lane, to go

up 13-4. The Lady Hawks added two more in the sixth to give

them a little cushion and held on from there. McDowell (2-2)

got the win, giving up five earned runs and five hits while

striking out nine and walking five over four innings. Lane got

the save, giving up four runs, one earned to bring her ERA to

1.93, on five hits, striking out three and walking two in three

innings of work.

McDowell, Lane and Pitts had a productive afternoon at the

plate. Lane went 5 for 6 with a pair of home runs and six RBI,

McDowell was 4 for 7, giving her a team-leading .516 batting

average, with a home run and five RBI and Pitts was 4 for 8

with a home run and three RBI. Mendoza was also 4 for 7 and

Vijarro went 2 for 6.

“It was a hitting day for both teams,” Cheney head coach

Gary Blake said. “Both teams were taking their whacks.”

It was a nice end to a week that began with Cheney giving

up four runs in the top of the seventh in a 9-3 non-league loss to

visiting Connell on Tuesday. After falling behind 5-0 the Lady

Hawks had started to rally, pulling to within 5-3 on Lane and

Pitts RBI singles in the fifth before Connell’s three-run home

run in the seventh decided it.

Last week’s results give Cheney a 3-5 mark in the GNL,

tied with Deer Park and Riverside, and 5-7 overall. Cheney

faces Moscow (0-2, 1-13) of Idaho’s 4A Inland Empire League

in non-league action Wednesday, and then wraps up the home

portion of their GNL schedule with a doubleheader Saturday

against Medical Lake (0-8, 0-14).

With road doubleheaders against two teams ahead of

them, May 7 at Pullman (4-4, 7-6) and May 15 at Deer Park

(3-5, 8-5), the Lady Hawks find themselves controlling their

playoff destiny.

“I think we’re in a pretty darn good position,” Blake said.

“We can’t win the GNL, but we have a good shot at the playoffs

if we finish strong.”

John McCallum can be reached at jmac@cheneyfreepress.com.