CdA Vikings get the `K' but not the `W'

In all his years coaching Coeur d'Alene High School softball, Larry Bieber had never lost one this way.

Locked in a fierce pitching battle with the Eagle Mustangs at the A-1 State softball tournament semifinals Friday, Bieber's Vikings fell 1-0, allowing the winning run in the bottom of the seventh inning on a Blake Hoorelbeke strikeout.

With Eagle senior Regina Scribner on third and two outs in the inning, Hoorelbeke fired a two-strike fastball past the Mustangs' Sara Hunn. But Hoorelbeke's battery mate Stephanie Ferro let the ball slip past to the backstop, failing to record the putout and allowing Scribner to cross the plate.

"It was really unusual, but we have to learn to turn that into a positive," Bieber said of the passed ball. "But you don't lose games because of just one player and we don't point fingers."

The loss drops the Vikings (25-4) into the losers bracket of the double-elimination tournament and into a situation the two-time defending champions aren't entirely familiar with.

The Vikings opened the 1998 state championships with a loss and won six straight for the title trophy. In 1999, they finished off the field 4-0 with character wins over Eagle and Lake City.

But to secure the 2000 title, Bieber and the girls will have to trace the 5-1 route.

"We haven't done it that way yet and that's why we're doing it that way this year," Bieber quipped. "There's no quit in this group. They believe in themselves, they play hard, play with pride and play with poise."

Victims of a two-hit shutout delivered by Eagle senior pitcher Lisa Hansen, the Vikings had few opportunities at breaking the stalemate.

Coeur d'Alene's best opportunity came in the sixth inning when Hoorelbeke ripped a two-out triple, but was held up by Bieber as she rounded third.

"In hindsight, putting on the brakes was the wrong decision," said Bieber, as the Eagle outfield missed the cutoff to leave the ball bounding randomly through the infield.

"If I'd sent her, she probably would have scored, but I didn't want to take that chance of making the third out at home," he said.

The Coeur d'Alene loss sets up a rematch with the Vikings' first- round opponent, the Blackfoot Broncos, who eliminated Idaho Falls 12- 2 in the consolation final. The Vikings managed just two hits on Blackfoot ace Sarah Mihelish in a 2-1 victory Thursday, but team captain Patti Stranger expects no such repeat performance when the first pitch is thrown today at 10 a.m.

"Sure we lost (to Eagle), but it's not like we got beat," Stranger said. "It's a bit of a setback, but tomorrow we'll just play until we lose.

"We've got to just go out, have fun and keep positive."

In their first game Friday, the Vikings bounced the Highland Rams out of the winners bracket with a 6-0 victory on a four-hitter by Hoorelbeke, setting up the matchup with Eagle.

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