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Capital Pitching Rises to Triumph: Cougars Hurler Strikes Out 11 in Win

Posted on: Friday, 31 March 2006, 12:00 CST

By Gail Wood, The Olympian, Olympia, Wash.

Mar. 31--OLYMPIA -- Going into Thursday's crosstown rivalry game with Olympia, Capital fastpitch coach Mel Weems' advice to his pitcher was simple.

He told Krista Shannon to throw the rise ball until they could hit it. Olympia never did.

With Shannon striking out the side in the bottom of the seventh inning to finish with 11 strikeouts, Capital won 4-1, ending a three-year losing streak against the Bears.

"Krista's rise ball was working well," Weems said. "It's a hard pitch for batter's to lay off. The pitch looks good, then it's in your eyes. I wanted her to use it until they started catching up to it."

Shannon pitched a two-hitter, walked four and allowed one run in the third inning.

"We haven't beaten Oly for three years so this was a big game for us," said Shannon, who hasn't given up more than one run in a game all season. "We were all pumped up."

Capital, which had lost five straight to Olympia, improved to 7-2 overall and 2-2 in the Narrows League. Olympia dropped to 4-2 overall and 2-1 in the league.

The game was a pitcher's duel.

Olympia's Erin Bordner struck out 10, gave up four hits, walked four and hit two batters.

With Capital trailing 1-0 and with runners on second and third in the fifth, freshman Kassy Williamson singled -- her blooper just out of reach of the second baseman's glove to tie the score 1-1.

With Olympia's outfield playing in, Lindsey Kanda cleared the bases with a triple to right-center, scoring two runs for a 3-1 lead.

"Right after I hit it, I knew it was a stand-up triple," the 5-foot-2 Kanda said. "They scoot in because I'm short."

It was Kanda's second triple of the season. She hit a grand slam in a blowout win against Lincoln on Wednesday.

Olympia had runners on second and third with one out in the fourth inning. But Shannon struck out the next two batters to get out of the jam.

"Shannon kept throwing that rise ball, and we kept fishing for it," Olympia coach Tom Jones said. "We had our opportunities."

Capital added an insurance run in the seventh when Courtney Nott beat the throw to home on a hit to shortstop.

Olympia took a 1-0 lead on Nicole Grosey's single in the third inning.

"I knew that lead wasn't safe," Jones said. "Erin threw well, but she wasn't at her best."

It was a game in which little mistakes were costly. In Capital's three-run explosion in the fifth, an Olympia outfielder misjudged a fly ball that dropped in for a hit.

"She couldn't pick it up in the lights," Jones said.

"Then a hit batter and a walk both scored."

An elated Weems said, "I'm very pleased, because the Bears are tough."

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Copyright (c) 2006, The Olympian, Olympia, Wash.

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Source: The Olympian, Olympia, Wash.

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