Kinney Construction wins eighth straight softball title

SANDPOINT — File this one under the famous Yogi Berra line “it ain’t over til it’s over.”

Kinney Construction, winners of the previous seven Sandpoint Parks and Rec women’s softball league championships, came into the final day of the season needing tied for first and needing a win and much help to make it eight in a row.

Sharing the four-team league lead with House Doctor, Kinney (9-3) took care of what it could control and beat Spade Construction in the final game, but the title was far from won at that point. Kinney would need some unexpected help from the most unlikely of sources.

House Doctor needed to beat A & P Bar and Grill, which hadn’t won a game all season to that point, to win the championship outright via. True to form, House Doctor (8-4) jumped out to an 8-0 lead in the fifth inning before tempting fate and having many of its players switch positions.

As fate would have it, Yogi was right on this one, as A & P would explode for 10 runs and go on to an improbable 10-8 win, giving Kinney Construction the surprise title.

“We’ve been the team to beat for several years now. We lost about half our team this year with pregnancies, surgeries, etc. and began the year with low expectations,” said coach Mistie Kinney. “I find it interesting that we probably take it less serious than most. We have fun and enjoy each other and we coach ourselves.”