McQueen pitcher shows championship mettle

Tim Mullin

Monday, May 23, 2005 | 9:40 a.m.

McQueen junior Katie Eshelman made like Brianne McGowan on Saturday.

McGowan, the Oregon State pitcher who led Wooster High to four consecutive state championships, couldn't have done much better herself in leading McQueen to a 5-0 victory against Sierra Vista.

Eshelman tossed a complete-game shutout, allowed four hits and struck out nine batters to lead the Lancers to their first state title since 1986.

"I had a heart-to-heart with Kate and I told her 'You are it. We are going to go with you. You are going to throw every game,' " McQueen coach Stacy Allinson said. "I talked to her about being mentally tough and she dug deep and did it."

During the top of the first, Eshelman gave up a pair of singles with one out, but struck out the next two batters to end the threat, and didn't give up another hit until the fifth inning.

Sierra Vista had its opportunities, but came up empty against McQueen's ace.

The Mountain Lions had a runner on third with no outs in the fourth and had runners on first and second with no outs in the sixth. But each time, Sierra Vista came up without a run.

"We have a great defense. That is our main focus, defense wins games," Eshelman said. "They really helped me out a lot."

One instance was in the fifth inning. With a runner on second and two outs, Sierra Vista's Kristin Delahoussaye hit a blooper to right, which looked to be a definite RBI single. But McQueen's Heather Bochenski made a spectacular diving catch toward the right field line to end the inning.

"That play was huge," Allinson said. "I said it at the beginning that defense was going to be key and Bo's dive saved a run and turned the whole momentum of the game our way."

"It was a game of missed opportunities," Sierra Vista coach Jerome Streets said. "They took advantage of the opportunities they had and we didn't."

Senior Jessica Haight broke the scoreless tie in the bottom half of the inning with an RBI double to left to give the Lancers a 2-0 lead. Sarah Hughes followed with another RBI double to expand the lead to 3-0. Prisca Pasina singled home Hughes for a 4-0 lead, and Justine Fulton later scored on an error for a 5-0 lead.

Sierra Vista's weekend was a tale of two bad innings.

"We played 28 innings in this tournament and we had 26 good ones," Streets said. "We had just two bad innings and it cost us."

Excluding the rough fifth inning in Saturday's game (in which they committed three errors), the other bad inning came on Friday against the same McQueen team, which scored four runs in the bottom of the fourth en route to a 5-3 victory.

After giving up those two singles in the first, Eshelman retired 12 of the next 13 batters she faced. She also shut down six of the last seven Sierra Vista hitters to ensure the title for the Lancers.

"Kate worked hard for what she got because she struggled a little early in the tournament," Allinson said. "But she stepped up and did her job."

Eshelman had a few problems during McQueen's opening-round game against Las Vegas High, giving up a pair of runs in the first two innings, but settled down to allow only a single run in her next six innings pitched.

"I think the first two games I really wasn't at my best, just because the heat, I think it really affected me," Eshelman said. "But today, I really told myself not to focus on that and to just pitch my game."

In McQueen's first game against the Mountain Lions, Eshelman came in to relieve starter Keri Noack in the third and pitched five solid innings, only allowing a pair of runs in the sixth.

"I think our intensity was just up and we really wanted it," Eshelman said. "We came here to get it done and we did."

White Pine won three games in a row Saturday to take the 2A title at The Meadows School in Summerlin. The Bobcats beat Battle Mountain 24-12 in the one-loss bracket finale, then beat Needles (Calif.) 3-1 and 2-1 in the championship games.

Coleville (Calif.) attempted the same feat Saturday, beating Mountain View Christian 12-3 at Moapa Valley then blanking Carlin 3-0 in the first championship game. Carlin came back to win the second game 4-1 to take the 1A title.