CENTRALIA — If there was ever a game to define the term pitcher’s duel, it was the District IV 1A tournament championship on Saturday. The rematch of the 2016 state 1A championship game featured the defending champ La Center led by Abigail England against Montesano with ace Samantha Stanfield in the circle.
The two rang up hitters one after another with Stanfield notching 14 strikeouts, and England collecting 12 Ks. But when the dust settled at Fort Borst Park it was Montesano holding the trophy after a 5-0 win.
Montesano was aggressive at the plate and the Bulldogs were able to deliver timly hitting to take advantage of seven hits and just 12 baserunners. Stanfield’s domination included allowing just seven baserunners for the Wildcats.
“The rise ball is working well and (Sam’s) speed is coming around,” Montesano head coach Pat Pace said. “Abby England is one of the better pitchers we have faced this year, so to see her and Sam go at it, I thought it might be a 1-0 or 2-0 ball game. But we had some girls come up and put the ball in play for some hits at the right time and that is all it was. We constantly tell all of our batters to be very aggressive. With a good pitcher like Abby, we said ‘You may only get one good pitch.’”
Montesano’s Lindsay Pace needed just one good pitch to give the Bulldogs the eventual game-winning run in the first inning. Hitting second in the Bulldog lineup, the sophomore jumped on the first pitch from England and deposited the ball over the center field fence.
Back in March, journalist Meg Wochnick had posted a video of England’s fastball from the view of an umpire on Twitter with a simple question of “Think you can hit of La Center’s Abby England,” along with her .84 ERA from 2016. For most viewers, it was fascinating and a unique view. For Lindsay Pace it was a challenge she said she has been thinking about ever since she saw the video.
“I was just swinging,” Lindsay Pace said. “I wanted to hit her (pitching) ever since we saw that video, we had the goal to hit a home run off of her.”
While Pace got the offense started, Stanfield delivered all the defense for the Bulldogs in the first two innings in the form of six strikeouts.
In the third inning, Lindsay Pace delivered again, this time with a double to score Abi Parkin. After a fielding error by the Wildcats helped extend the inning, Allyssa Gustafson blooped a single to right to score Pace and put the Bulldogs up 3-0.
Montesano added another run in the fourth when Josie Toyra reached on a error and was driven home by Morgan Kersker. The Bulldogs capped the scoring in the seventh inning with Gustafson coming up with her second hit of the day, pulling a ball down the third base line for a double to score Pace.
Stanfield allowed just four baserunners in the first six innings, but in the seventh she would face a bit of a jam. England worked to help her cause with a leadoff ground-rule double. Stanfield was able to strikeout Caitlyn Thompson moments later, but La Center’s Coral Clark put a ball just over the infield for a single and Sydney Mairose got aboard with an infield single to load the bases with one out. From there, Stanfield took over. The junior struck out La Center’s Quinn Wiseman and got Ceanna Johnston to ground out to third to end the game.
After hoisting the trophy on Saturday, Montesano will travel to Chehalis on Monday to face off against the District IV 2A champion Bearcats in a non-league game to tune up for the state 1A tournament, which will begin on Friday at Columbia Playfields in Richland.
Montesano 102 100 1 — 5 7 1
La Center 000 000 0 — 0 5 3
Stanfield and Poler; England and Muffett.
RBI: Montesano — Pace 2, Gustafson 2, Kersker. Two hits: Montesano — Pace, Gustafson. Home run: Montesano — Pace. Doubles: Montesano — Pace, Gustafson. La Center — England.
Winning pitcher — Stanfield (14 strikeouts, one walk). Losing pitcher — England (12 strikeouts, one walk).
