Culver goes down fighting

Published 5:00 am Wednesday, June 4, 2003

CULVER – The Cinderella season of the Culver High softball team came up just short of reaching the big dance.

Visiting North Douglas broke open a defensive battle, scoring five runs in the final inning, to defeat the Lady Bulldogs 5-0 in the semifinals of the Class 2A-1A state softball playoffs Tuesday.

The fourth-ranked Warriors (24-1) advance to meet defending state champion Dayton on Saturday for the 2A-1A title at Erv Lind Stadium in Portland.

Culver, in the state softball playoffs for the first time, finished its season 24-5.

”I’m disappointed we’re not going to the state championship, but I’m not disappointed in these kids,” said Culver coach Jack Layton. ”The 5-0 score is not indicative of how we played.”

The two teams were locked in a defensive gem before a large crowd of spectators on a sun-drenched afternoon in Culver. But in the top of the seventh, everything started going in favor of the Warriors.

North Douglas catcher Nichole Lusk drew a lead-off walk. Dani Davisson reached base on her bunt down the third-base line when the throw to first was off target. Lusk advanced to third on the play. Kristy Umbarger followed with a fielder’s choice that scored Lusk with what proved to be the only run the Warriors would need.

”I told our first girl up (Lusk) to get on base any way she could,” said North Douglas coach Bill Millard. ”We needed to put pressure on them.”

But the Warriors weren’t through.

Caitlin Anderson reached base on a walk, and ball four was a passed ball that allowed Davisson to score. After Culver pitcher Bree Miller struck out Dani Taylor, an error on Samantha Palmer’s grounder allowed Umbarger to score. The Bulldogs got the second out of the inning when catcher Marissa Hagman tagged Anderson out at home on the play.

Culver looked ready to get out of the inning, but another infield error allowed Melissa Cool to reach base. That set the stage for senior Katie Plumb, who delivered a triple to the fence in left-center field – the only extra-base hit of the game – scoring Palmer and Cool, and putting the game seemingly out of reach.

”I told the kids defense was going to win this game, and it did,” said Layton. ”We played great until the seventh inning. It (the errors) just kind of got contagious.”

Each team had three hits, but it was the errors that did in the Bulldogs.

”We had them in trouble a couple of times, but we couldn’t get the run across,” said Millard.

”We were lucky. They (Culver) are a very good team. I think we kind of underestimated them.”

The Warriors left two runners on base in the first and third innings, then Miller retired the side in the fourth and fifth. North Douglas got a one-out single in the sixth, but also stranded that base runner.

Culver had base runners in each of the first three innings, but in each case those runners reached with two outs. Only Hagman, who drew a one-out walk in the bottom of the sixth and advanced on a ground ball, reached second base for the Bulldogs.

Plumb, a senior who has earned all-state honors the previous three seasons, was solid in the pitcher’s circle for North Douglas. She scattered three hits, walked two and struck out seven.

Kristy Allen had two of Culver’s three hits. Hagman had the other single.

Plumb had two of the three hits for North Douglas.

Culver, in just its third year of fielding a softball program, will loose three seniors to graduation: Hagman and infielders Lanisha Goicoa and Brieona Whitaker. The future looks bright for the Lady Bulldogs.

”We lose three good kids, but if all the others come back, we’ll be a team to beat next year,” said Layton.