Bulldogs need three wins to bring home state crown

Steve Guiremand

Friday, May 17, 2002 | 11:18 a.m.

To paraphrase former Chicago Cubs star Ernie Banks, let's play three.

At least that's what the Centennial Bulldogs are hoping today as they battle their way through the losers' bracket in the 2002 NIAA-U.S. Bank State Softball Championship at Stephanie Lynn Craig Park.

Centennial (36-3), which played three games totalling 31 innings on Thursday, including a grueling 17-inning 1-0 victory over Palo Verde, must defeat McQueen (29-13) in this afternoon's 1 p.m. losers' bracket title game and then follow that with back-to-back victories over two-time defending state champion Wooster (41-2) to claim the title.

"We just have to do it one game at a time," Centennial head coach Cyndi Castro said. "That's the only way you can approach it."

Castro earned the tourney's iron woman award on Thursday, coaching first base for all 31 innings of action in the triple-digit heat despite the fact she is eight months pregnant.

"Hey, I'm fine," she said. "I'm not the one who is out there playing. It was the players who came through out there."

And no one more than sophomore pitcher Shannon Crisp.

The Bulldogs, who lost their first game of the day to McQueen, 1-0, needed 3 1/2 hours and 17 innings to stave off Palo Verde.

Crisp, who split time on the mound with senior first baseman Amy Sauer, won the game with an RBI double to the right field fence which drove in shortstop Danielle Delgado, who had singled.

After just a 15-minute break, Centennial was back on the field for its third game of the day against Silverado (35-11) and junior pitcher Morgan Miller, who had thrown a perfect game earlier in the day in a 4-0 win over Eldorado.

Miller allowed just four hits against the Bulldogs, but one of them was a solo homer to Crisp that turned out to be the game-winner. Crisp, meanwhile, scattered four hits while also picking up another victory on the mound.

"She and Amy pitched outstanding for us today," Carter said of Crisp."They always found a way to get out of a jam. Shannon is definitely one of the best players I've ever coached."

If Centennial can get past McQueen in today's first game, it will have to find a way to win two straight games against a well-rested Wooster squad that is led by the state's top player, junior pitcher Brianne McGowan.

McGowan also pitched a perfect game on Thursday in a 3-0 victory over Silverado, her eighth no-hitter of the season. She later three-hit McQueen in a 5-0 win to give her 27 shutouts this season.

"It's not going to be easy," Castro admitted. "But we just have to play our game and focus on winning one game at a time."