Softball Players Competing In U.S. Tourney
Five North Side athletes are currently enjoying a rare softball experience in Chattanooga, Tenn.
The girls - three from North Central High School, and one each from Rogers and Lakeside - are part of the U16 River City Rivals.
According to their coach, Ken VanBuskirk, they are Spokane’s first high school-aged team to qualify for a national tournament.
They drove to Seattle, flew to Nashville on Tuesday, and then car-pooled to Chattanooga for the double-elimination tournament, which began Wednesday.
“I think the girls are just excited to be there,” VanBuskirk said. “For softball players, the tournament is maybe a once-in-a-lifetime thing.”
The Rivals compiled a 40-11 record this summer and won the Spokane Fastpitch League Metro Tournament. But they were improbable national qualifiers.
During regional competition in Boise the weekend of July 26-27-28, the team lost its first game of a double-elimination tournament and trailed by 10 runs in the first inning of the second game before rallying for a 13-10 win.
It was the first of six straight wins that left the Rivals third. By the time Saturday had ended, the girls had been on the field from 8 a.m. until 10:30 p.m. and didn’t eat until midnight. They were back on the field at 8 a.m. Sunday.
And it took a diving catch by Jenny Lytle in right field to save the team’s fourth win and enable it to continue.
“It was the kind of play both sides cheer,” said VanBuskirk.
Janessa Karstens pitched a near-perfect 1-0 no-hitter for the Rivals’ final win.
Janessa and her sister, Deanna, are VanBuskirk’s granddaughters. They and Stacey Fisher are North Central High School students.
Infielder Crystal Perry is from Rogers, and shortstop Nikki Petticrew attends Lakeside High.
Four other players are from Colville, three are from University High School, and one is from Gonzaga Prep. Lytle, a tournament pickup player, attends Ferris.
Janessa Karstens was one of the Greater Spokane League’s leading pitchers and hitters, making all-league as a sophomore after transferring from Riverside.
Pitcher-outfielder Deanna is just 14 years old and is playing up in classification.
Fisher, said VanBuskirk, “is the most surprising part of the team. She’s so fast and is a phenomenal outfielder and hitter, too.”
Multisport star Petticrew was the Northeast A all-league shortstop.
Perry played shortstop for the Pirates last year as a freshman.
“It’s a hard trip to take,” said VanBuskirk, “but once we are there our goal is to play as well as we can and win as many games as we can.
“If we’re in there somewhere, fine. If not, I feel we’ve had a successful season.”
That 40-11 record, a city championship, a tournament win in Walla Walla in 105-degree heat and the Rivals’ miracle finish at regionals speak for themselves.
, DataTimes