Prep softball: Historic win precedes elimination

June 10, 2007

By MATT TUNSETH/ Frontiersman

ANCHORAGE - Wasilla's most successful softball season in school history came to an end Friday afternoon with a 3-0 loss to Bartlett in the ASAA State Softball Tournament at Cartee Fields in Anchorage.

But rather than being disappointed, Wasilla coach Sue Allen said she couldn't be more proud of her team, which went 1-2 in the tournament and picked up its first-ever state tournament victory earlier in the day against East Anchorage.

&#8220I'm very happy,” Allen said. &#8220I couldn't be more proud of how we've progressed this season.”

Wasilla opened the tournament with a 5-1 win over the Thunderbirds before falling 3-0 in back-to-back games against North Pole and Bartlett.

The Warriors were eliminated despite a spectacular effort by senior pitcher Anne Wesser, who struck out 33 batters over three tournament games and allowed only 10 hits in 19 innings of work.

&#8220She's amazing, that's all I have to say,” Wasilla first baseman Jessica Carter said after the tournament.

Wesser pitched every inning of the tournament for the

Warriors.

&#8220You want to talk about a workhorse, she's just such a competitor,” Sue Allen said.

The Wasilla star shrugged off the praise following the tournament, claiming her effort really wasn't anything special.

&#8220If I'm eating enough and drinking plenty of water I don't really get too tired,” she said.

Wesser said that she felt fine physically, but admitted the pressure of pitching three games over the course of roughly 10 hours took its toll.

&#8220There's just all these things you have to worry about,” she said. &#8220It's more mentally tough than it is physical.”

In the opener against East, Wesser was two outs away from a perfect game before allowing two hits and a walk in the seventh. She then went on to record 13 strikeouts against North Pole and another five against Bartlett.

Wesser took the Bartlett loss hard, saying she would have preferred to see her high school career last one more day.

&#8220It's definitely not the way I wanted to go out,” she said. &#8220It's a bummer.”

Allen said Wesser's reaction was typical of her humble star.

&#8220I don't think she has a clue how good she really is,” Allen said.

Wasilla's offense gave Wesser plenty of support against the T-Birds, pounding out nine hits, including two by third baseman Zandra Christensen-Vavalis and one each from Carter, Samantha Porrecea, Ashley Enderson, Brittany Steele, Taylor Teeling, April Gehring and Jordan Elkins.

&#8220I knew that if we jumped on East early, we could get ‘em down and they wouldn't come back,” Allen said.

Against North Pole, Wesser didn't give up a hit until the fifth inning, when the Patriots' Nicole Charlstrom ripped a ground rule double over the left field wall on one hop. Charlstrom's hit scored pitcher Bonnie Heineken, who walked to open the inning.

The run would prove to be decisive, as Wesser and Heineken - both of them All-Railbelt Conference selections - locked up in a classic pitcher's duel. Heineken finished the game with 11 strikeouts and allowed just two hits, a pair of singles Teeling and right fielder Brittany Steik.

Allen said she felt like the Warriors played one of their best games of the season against North Pole, which lost only once during the regular season and had beaten Wasilla handily in two previous meetings. North Pole went on to take second in the tournament, losing 11-8 Saturday to champion Juneau-Douglas - which Wasilla beat earlier this season - in the final.

&#8220I believe this was one of the toughest games they've played all year,” she said.

Following the game, Heineken said North Pole was surprised by the fight put up by the Warriors.

&#8220We weren't cocky, but we expected to do a lot better,” she said.

Despite striking out 11 batters and only allowing four base runners, Heineken said she felt like she had to battle the umpire at times.

&#8220He'd squeeze my strike zone a lot,” she said.

Allen had nothing but positive words for the North Pole hurler.

&#8220I can say we didn't hit the ball, but Bonnie is one heck of a pitcher,” Allen said.

Bartlett opened the scoring in the bottom of the second after Wasilla's defense - which had been stellar in the Warriors' two previous games - failed to come through. The Golden Bears' Corinne Kelly opened the inning with a double, then scored when Porrecea couldn't come up with a sharply hit ground ball off the bat of center fielder Jennifer Mitchell.

Allen had nothing but good things to say about her team's defensive effort throughout the tourney. While the Warriors normally rely upon Wesser to shut down opposing lineups, Allen said her team was able to get more help from its fielders Friday than at any time during the regular season.

&#8220This was the best defense we've ever played,” she said.

The Warriors had a good chance to tie things up in both the third and fifth innings against Bartlett, getting runners to third base with two outs before failing to come through with the bats.

Wasilla missed a huge opportunity in the top of the sixth, when the Warriors loaded the bases on a bunt single by Wesser, a walk to Carter and a single by Porrecea. But Bartlett relief pitcher Paige Earhart came on to retire the next three hitters in order and end the threat.

Carter said the loss was disappointing because the Warriors felt like they were playing well enough to win and advance to the next round.

&#8220We didn't really lose the game, we just got outscored,” she said.

After coming out hot against East, Wasilla's offense was ice cold in the final two losses. In failing to score, the Warriors got just six hits in their final 14 innings of play. Allen said Heineken deserved part of the credit, but also noted that Wasilla may have been trying too hard when they went up against Bartlett.

&#8220It was just us trying to do too much,” she said. &#8220Any time you get that, ‘we've gotta' mentality, you're done. Everyone that got up to the plate was thinking ‘I've gotta hit.'”

Though the loss was disappointing, Sue Allen said the season's final day gave her plenty of reasons to smile.

&#8220We're a really young team, and the future is very bright for us,” she said.

But while Wasilla will try to build upon this season's successes, they'll have to do so without Wesser, whose standout high school athletic career ended Friday. Allen said that will be no easy task.

&#8220She's one in a million.”

Contact Matt Tunseth at 352-2265 or matt.tunseth@frontiersman.com

WARRIORS 5, THUNDERBIRDS 0

East 000 000 0 - 0

Wasilla 000 302 x - 5

PATRIOTS 3, WARRIORS 0

Wasilla 000 000 0 - 0

North Pole 000 012 x - 0

GOLDEN BEARS 3, WARRIORS 0

Wasilla 000 000 0 - 0

Bartlett 010 002 x - 3