Moscow Bears softball team heading to state tournament as district champions

MOSCOW — The Moscow softball team downed the Lakeland Hawks of Rathdrum 7-1 in an Idaho Class 4A district championship game Thursday at the Moscow Community Playfields and clinched a state tournament berth.

The Bears’ baseball and softball teams posed for a spontaneous photo-op with their respective district championship trophies after the game.

“We knew Lakeland wasn’t going to roll over,” Moscow coach Eric Kiblen said. “They’re a good hitting team and we knew they were going to come out swinging the bats. They were hitting the ball hard right at people. But our defense stepped up today and bailed us out.”

The Bears held the lead for most of the game, but the team had to display some patience before running away with the score at the end.

Lakeland starts ahead, Moscow bounces back

Moscow (16-10) came into the game with the expectation that Lakeland (10-14) would be strong at the plate.

The Hawks proved the Bears right — especially in the beginning.

Lakeland had no problem getting players on the basepaths, but bringing them home was another story.

The visitors left 10 runners stranded over the course of the game. The Hawks lone run was in the first inning courtesy of an RBI single from Ada Blakemore. Lakeland ended up leaving three more potential scores on base in the first.

The Bears immediately responded in their half of the frame. Junior Kaci Kiblen scored on a throwing error and senior catcher Megan Highfill had one of her four RBI for the game to bring Moscow up 2-1 through the first inning.

“I think everyone was just so excited to come out and play at the beginning,” Highfill said. “And it took us those first few innings to settle down a little bit and realize, ‘Hey, you got time in your count. You got time at the plate.’ So we just relaxed a bit and saw those good pitches. Lakeland’s a good team. You can’t just hit the ball right to them.”

Stodick sticks the Hawks

Highfill knocked in her second and third RBI with a two-run single in the fifth to bolster the Bears’ lead to 4-1.

Moscow’s ace, senior pitcher Kelly Stodick, held the Hawks’ in check after the first inning. Stodick walked four batters and let up five hits for the game. She struck out four and didn’t allow another run after the opening inning.

Stodick’s win on Thursday gave her a record of 7-0 on the year.

Bears secure the hardware

The two players who started off the scoring for the Bears also capped it off. Kaci Kiblen and Highfill had an RBI single apiece in the bottom of the sixth inning to bring Moscow’s advantage to the eventual final of 7-1.

Ella McCallie scored before her teammates courtesy of an RBI sacrifice grounder from Sadie Newlan.

Moscow’s district title win added another accolade to the best two-year stretch the team has had in over a decade.

“I think it’s special to see both the softball and baseball programs playing well and competing,” Eric Kiblen said. “It’s been a lot of years since we had some winning programs. So it’s good that we’re putting the programs on the map.”

Last year was the breakthrough year for the team — a winning season, district championship and state tournament berth.

This year, those accolades weren’t breakthroughs for the Bears. They were expectations.

Another expectation is to go down there and win some games.

Moscow has gone 5-3 in the regular season against southern Idaho opponents the last two years. It’s not a question of whether the team can win against bigger-city teams, it’s simply a matter of doing it when it counts in the state tournament.

“I think last year we were just super, super nervous and didn’t know what to expect when we went to State,” Highfill said. “And I think now, having a little bit of experience and knowing what’s going to be there, we won’t have as much nerves. And if we do have those nerves, we’ve practiced how to calm them down. Our coaches have been great with addressing pregame routines and really just calming yourself before stepping onto the field and into the box and I think that’ll help us.”

The Idaho Class 4A state softball tournament begins May 16 at Lake City and Coeur d’Alene high schools in Coeur d’Alene.

Lakeland 100 000 0—1 5 3

Moscow 200 023 x—7 9 1

Abigial Helmholz, Mia Kesner (6) and Payton Sterling; Kelly Stodick and Megan Highfill.

Lakeland hits — Delilah Zimmerman 2, Sterling, Kiersten Drake, Ada Blakemore.

Moscow hits — Highfill 2, Hannah Robertson 2, Kaci Kiblen 2, Stodick, Addi Branen, Ella McCallie.

Kowatsch can be contacted at 208-848-2268, tkowatsch@lmtribune.com or on Twitter @Teren_Kowatsch.