Pennant Race A Close Second

A pennant race wasn’t enough to keep Paul Galloway in Bellingham.

The Giants third baseman left the team Aug. 16 to return for his final two semesters at Clemson University.

Galloway, who carries a 4.0 grade-point average, is majoring in electrical engineering.

He made the Tigers baseball team as a walk-on and was shocked to be drafted in the 14th round by the San Francisco Giants.

Bellingham leads the Northwest League’s North Division heading into the season’s final two weeks, but Galloway’s contract guaranteed an early exit.

“I want to go back and finish before I let things slip away,” Galloway said. “I always put my priorities into academics, and I don’t want to change that now.”

“We’re used to people going up in the organization, but this is strange,” said Bellingham manager Shane Turner. “We’re going to miss him. Paul’s a good player, but he’s also a good student, and he’s got to do what’s right for him.”

Wounded Hawks

Bellingham kept control of the North and knocked Boise out of the South Division lead with a four-game home sweep that ended last Monday.

Bellingham pitchers recorded 49 strikeouts during the series.

When Boise connected with the ball - and reached base - it didn’t matter. Combining Sunday and Monday’s games, the Hawks had 25 hits, but left 21 on base and grounded into seven double plays.

Getting in his hacks

Eugene assumed the South lead from Boise, thanks in large part to infielder Steve Hacker.

Hacker, an Emeralds holdover from 1995, broke the club short-season mark with his 18th homer last week. The old record was set in 1988 by Bob Hamelin, the American League’s Rookie of the Year in ‘94 with Kansas City.

This Bridge leads to Everett

Coeur d’Alene resident Rocky Bridges will throw out the ceremonial first pitch Friday during Everett’s home finale.

Bridges was the franchise’s first manager. Bridges, christened Everett Lamar, closed the 1984 season by thanking the fans for naming the city after him.

When Everett president Bob Bavasi contacted Bridges to invite him to this year’s ceremony, the 11-year major leaguer offered a typical quip: “You’re interrupting something important. I’m trying to decide whether to mow the lawn or have a beer.”

Good as Gould

Southern Oregon manager Tony DeFrancesco honored Timberjacks official scorer B.G. Gould on his 45th birthday Aug. 14 by allowing him to make out the lineup against Spokane.

The Timberjacks, who had dropped seven of their previous nine games, responded with a 13-3 win, but Gould said the prospects were “bleak” that he would get a second chance.

Gould, Southern Oregon’s official scorer for 11 years, is routinely introduced in Everett as the governor of Oregon, mayor of Medford or dog catcher of Klamath County.

Whiff, whiff, sniff, sniff

Everett starter Joe Mays allowed one hit and struck out 15 Yakima Bears in six innings Monday - and lost.

Mays struck out Matt Meyer in the fourth, but AquaSox catcher Brian Nelson dropped the third strike and threw high to first base. Damian Rolls followed with the lone hit off Mays - an RBI triple that stood up for a 1-0 win.

The game ended with 36 combined strikeouts, breaking the league record of 33 set by Walla Walla and Eugene in 1975.

The following fields overflowed: SUPCAT = COLUMN - Northwest League notebook