LAKE STEVENS – A few inches left or right and it would have merely been an impressive line-drive hit.
Instead, it also produced a moment of horror that left the Lake Stevens High School fastpitch softball team reeling.
In the top of the seventh inning of a Western Conference North Division game on Monday, Cascade’s Rachael Sofie smashed a leadoff hit directly off the mouth of Lake Stevens starting pitcher Krista Crosson. The impact knocked out several teeth from Crosson’s mouth and, in the midst of her dominant performance, it sent the bloodied senior to the hospital.
Despite suffering an emotional jolt that left it fretting over Crosson’s well-being, Lake Stevens recovered and held off Cascade for a 1-0 victory. The Bruins loaded the bases before reliever Athia Surface closed out the win for Lake Stevens (6-0 in division, 6-1 overall).
“What it took was a lot of focus,” Lake Stevens coach Sue Van Wyhe said. “(The Vikings) were really playing for something by that time. To be able to come back from that – obviously it was really hard.”
Karissa Tri drove in the winning run on a two-out, fifth-inning single that allowed teammate Trista Helvey to score.
Allison Hall contributed three hits in the game for Lake Stevens, and Vikings teammates Helvey and Sam Pierce had two apiece. Defensively, Sydney Buser backed up Crosson by playing flawlessly amidst frequent action at third base.
“I know they were definitely playing for (Crosson),” Van Wyhe said of her team’s late effort.
The mouth-jarring hit came on an 0-2 count after Sofie fouled off four consecutive pitches for Cascade (2-3, 5-3). Upon impact, Crosson clutched her face and walked to the Lake Stevens dugout. Officials stopped the game and two men eventually carried Crosson across the infield toward the Lake Stevens High parking lot. Medics quickly arrived in a Fire District 8 truck and loaded Crosson onto a stretcher and into the vehicle.
Following the game, the visibly shaken Lake Stevens players traveled to Providence Everett Medical Center, where Van Whye said Crosson was taken following the incident. In a display of sportsmanship, Cascade’s Sofie approached Van Wyhe after the game to share how sorry she was about the injury.
Crosson, who accepted a scholarship to play for Loyola University Chicago, was not wearing a mouth guard and lost three upper teeth, according to Van Wyhe. She allowed zero runs on three hits and struck out six batters in six-plus innings Monday, improving her record to 5-1.
“She’s a premier pitcher,” Cascade coach Wendy Close said, “and she’s such a nice girl.
“You don’t want to see that happen to anybody,” Close said of the injury.
Neither team committed a fielding error in the game, which was postponed by rain twice last week. Close said she was happy to see her Bruins play well after a long layoff. Sofie was 3-for-3 for Cascade, raising her season batting average to .655 (19-for-29), and center fielder Melody Rehn and first baseman Kari Moore both threw out Lake Stevens runners at home plate.
“I was really pleased,” Close said. “I told them that if they play like this the rest of the week, we’ll have three wins.”
Cascade hosts Arlington (1-3, 4-3) today and Lake Stevens plays at Snohomish (1-3, 4-3).
At Lake Stevens
Cascade0000000-040
Lake Stevens000010x-1100
Owens and Benvenuti. Crosson, Surface (7) and Froman. WP-Crosson (5-1). LP-Owens (2-1). 2B-Pierce (LS). Records-Cascade 2-3 in league, 5-3 overall. Lake Stevens 6-0, 6-1.
Arlington 1, Oak Harbor 0: Arlington’s Kate Nicely struck out five in a complete-game shutout in the Wesco North game.
At Arlington
Oak Harbor0000000-040
Arlington001000x-170
Lindsey Bear, Knaus (4) and Libbe Bear. Nicely and Twitchell. WP-Nicely (2-2). LP-Lindsey Bear. 2B-Taylor (A). 3B-Hansen (A). Records-Oak Harbor 0-5 league, 0-9 overall. Arlington 2-3, 5-3.
Mountlake Terrace 1, Everett 0: Lindsay Woodhouse pitched her first shutout of the season and held Everett to just four hits as Mountlake Terrace won the Wesco South game. Miranda Hanson drove in the winning run in the bottom of the fourth inning with a single to right.
At Mountlake Terrace
Everett0000000-050
M-T000100x-140
Mattson and Welly. Woodhouse and Richardson. WP-Woodhouse (5-2). LP-Mattson (0-2). 2B-Carey (E), Shartner (MT). Records-Everett 3-3 in league, 4-4 overall. Mountlake Terrace 5-1, 5-3.
South Whidbey 4, Archbishop Murphy 1: Christie Robinson struck out 13 and was 2-for-2 with an RBI and Shelly Burton had a pinch-hit double to help South Whidbey improve to 5-0 in the Cascade Conference. Archbishop Murphy’s Kayelynne Huggins recorded 11 strikeouts.
At Langley
A. Murphy0001000-122
South Whidbey130000x-465
Huggins and L. Kennedy. Robinson and Lubach. WP-Robinson (8-0). LP-Huggins. 2B-name (school), name (school). 3B-name (school), name (school). HR-name (school), name (school). Records-Archbishop Murphy 3-2 in league, 4-2 overall. South Whidbey 5-0, 8-0.
Granite Falls 5, Sultan 0: Ashley Millican threw nine strikeouts in the shutout, leading Granite Falls to the Cascade Conference win.
At Granite Falls
Sultan0000000-032
Granite Falls100112x-550
Gilman and Cramer. Millican and Todd. WP-Millican (3-2). LP-Bailee. 2B-Butler (GF). 3B-Anderson (GF). Records-Sultan 0-5 league, 1-7 overall, Granite Falls 2-2, 3-2.
Cedarcrest 8, Lakewood 1: Cedarcrest’s Whitney Oviatt and Hillary Barker combined to pitch a one-hitter in the Cascade Conference contest. Barker went 3-for-4 with a triple and four RBI.
At Duvall
Lakewood0000100-111
Cedarcrest300023x-880
Bruns, Trudell (4) and Bean, Stewart (4). Oviatt, Barker (5) and Botts. WP-Oviatt (4-4). LP-Bruns. 2B-Taylor (C). 3B-Barker (C). Records-Lakewood 1-1 in league, 2-4 overall. Lakewood 2-3, 5-4.
Concrete 7, Orcas Island 0: Britt Howell struck out 15 and walked one to help Concrete improve to 5-0 in the Northwest A/B league.
At Eastsound
Concrete0000070-742
Orcas Island0000000-044
Howell and Swanson. Plummer and Harvey. WP-Howell (9-0). LP-Plummer. 2B-Harvey (O). Records-Concrete 5-0 in league, 9-0 overall. Orcas Island 1-3, 1-3.
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