Road to NWAACC softball title goes through Longview
Tuesday, May 20, 2008 12:09 AM PDT
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E-mail this articleColumn by Rick McCorkle
The Lower Columbia College softball team sent a strong message during Sunday’s championship game at Delta Park.
With a silent voice heard only in the ring of their bats, the young women told the rest of the Northwest Athletic Association of Community: “You guys can fill out the bracket, but don’t get your heart set on the title. That’s ours.”
It’s been that way for the past three years. And, following the Lady Devils’ 7-5 victory in nine innings over Mount Hood in the title game Sunday, that made it status quo for nine of the past 10 championship tournaments.
The road to the NWAACC trophy each year might run through Longview-Kelso, but it ends in the back parking lot at Tam O’Shanter Park adjacent to the Lady Devils’ field.
For LCC coach Tim Mackin, the simple answer is the best.
“When you come to this tournament, it’s a matter of who wants to win it the most,” he said. “Every year when we come in, we talk about how it’s our tournament and it’s been that way for 10 years. We don’t want anyone to beat us, and we seem to peak at the right time.”
Mackin is still awe-struck when he thinks about how the Lady Devils won their latest crown.
“It was such a dramatic way to win,” he said of Hayley Ridout’s grand-slam home run with two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning. “Last year, we had Courtney Mathews drill a double down the left-field line that scored Jessi Hanna from first base with the game-winner in the seventh. But this ending tops that.
“The only thing that would’ve been more dramatic,” he said, “was having the score 6-3 with a full count when she hits a home run that barely clears the fence.”
Hey Coach, save something for next year.
Ridout struggled in her previous three at-bats with a strikeout, a pop-up to third base and a bases-loaded fielder’s choice that erased teammate Kayla Vickaryous at the plate. But she redeemed herself with a historic hit.
After watching a first-pitch ball, the former Montesano High standout — who’s in her second season at LCC — unloaded on the second offering and lofted a towering fly ball that easily cleared the left-field fence by 40 feet.
“It was an inside pitch that was a little high,” she said after the game. “I loaded, rocked back and it was gone. I knew right away when I hit it, heard the sound and had that feeling that it was gone. That’s the biggest hit I’ve ever had and I’m never going to forget it.”
Ridout had tears in her eyes as she began her journey around the bases. But she wasn’t going to miss touching any of the bags.
“I text messaged Hayley Mae on Monday morning and told her to savor the moment forever,” Mackin said. “I remember telling her before that at-bat to forget everything that had happened previously, get a good swing and drive the ball. That was a storybook ending.”
All of Mackin’s sophomores played key roles in this year’s title run.
“Jessi (Hanna) and Carri (O’Neil) were great captains, including them leading workouts in the weight room,” he said. “Hayley was never a problem and was always ready to play, and Kelsey (Forrest) was dedicated and ready to go any time we put her in the game.”
Hanna, who has already signed to play next season for the first-year Boise State University softball program, was the answer to a trivia question posed by her father, Cam Hanna, at the end of Sunday’s title game.
Who is the only LCC softball player to win back-to-back NWAACC titles after claiming two consecutive state high school softball crowns?
Hanna also picked up her second consecutive National Fastpitch Coaches Association/Louisville Slugger All-American award, and was joined by teammates O’Neil and Samantha Petrich as 13 NWAACC players were chosen for the award.
O’Neil, who has inked to play at Portland State University, was also named the Southern Division Pitcher of the Year. First-team selections included Petrich, Hanna, O’Neil and first baseman Camy Way. Second-teamers included Vickaryous, Ridout and catcher Kassandra Myers.
Oddly, neither Mackin nor Mount Hood coach Meadow McWhorter, who led the Saints to the Southern Division title, were named the division’s Coach of the Year. That honor went to Megan Corriea of Southwestern Oregon, who led the Lakers to a fifth-place finish and missed the postseason.
Mackin isn’t losing sleep about getting snubbed in the balloting, and is content with making a mark on the NWAACC in his own way. He’s knocking on the door of 600 victories (588-135) and will walk through it early in the 2009 campaign.
It’s been suggested he stick around until he logs 1,000 victories, which could come sometime during the 2019 season.
He isn’t ready to step aside and let someone else take charge of the Lady Devils’ dynasty, but he has given more responsibility to capable assistant coaches Dani Terry, Brent Harris and Scott Hemberry.
He’s putting the rumor to rest of him loading up the motor-home and driving into the sunset.
“I’m not retiring or going anywhere,” he said. “I’ll be here until I retire from my full-time job at Kelso Parks and Recreation. We have a lot of freshmen coming back next season and we’re adding some exciting new players to the mix.
“It’ll be fun to go after title No. 11.”
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