Hawks Give Indians A Sound Thumping Kotchman Leads Boise Toward Another Title

Not even one third of the Northwest League baseball season has been completed, but the Boise Hawks appear to be well on the way toward winning their fourth consecutive championship.

Monday night at Seafirst Stadium, the Hawks defeated the Spokane Indians 8-2 to take three of four games from the Indians in their only visit to town this season.

If you didn’t get a chance to see the Hawks, well, that’s too bad. Fundamentally, on and off the field, the Hawks are the poster boys of organizational stability.

“You know why that is?” Boise pitching coach Jim Bennett said. “It’s because of Tom Kotchman.”

Kotchman, manager of the Hawks, is in his seventh season in Boise, and he has become the most successful manager in Northwest League history with five division titles and four league championships.

The Boise skipper has a 293-182 record and ranks third all-time among Northwest League managers in total wins. He is only 10 victories away from tying Bill Berrier, who won 303 times in eight seasons, for second place. Berrier managed Spokane in 1972.

Kotchman, now in his 14th season as a manager in the California Angels organization, has a 735-591 career record. He was Northwest League manager of the year in 1992.

If his 1996 Boise team can win the league championship, it would tie Spokane’s record string of NWL titles. The Indians won four straight between 1987 and 1990. The Hawks have won the last three, starting in 1993.

Monday night, Kotchman wasn’t in attendance. He missed the game to watch his 13-year-old son, Casey, play in a Little League All-Star game in Florida.

“It doesn’t happen very often that he’s not here,” Bennett said. “In his own words, he said, ‘I’m going home to impersonate a father and be there for once.”’ Bennett, who has worked under Kotchman for two seasons, said Kotchman creates an environment that is conducive to producing a winning team.

“He teaches how to play right and teaches how to play hard,” Bennett said. “The guys trust that and they go with it.”

Bennett says he’s learned a lot himself.

“You learn how to be prepared here,” he said. “We don’t just show up to the ballpark and start getting ready. We’re preparing ourselves long before we get here.”

That preparation has shown itself early this season. After just 21 games, the South Division-leading Hawks (18-3) have only Eugene looking over their shoulders.

On Monday, Spokane clearly wasn’t the best-prepared team on the field. The Indians committed five errors.

Offensively, Spokane missed a big chance. Trailing 5-2, the Indians put the first two men on first and third in the sixth, but the next two flied out. The third grounded out.

After a night off, Spokane will be back in action Wednesday night at Seafirst against Yakima.

Notes

Boise’s Trent Durrington better not show his face on Juan Robles’ doorstep any time soon.

In the top of the fifth inning, with the bases loaded and Durrington at third, Matt Curtis hit a chopper to Spokane third baseman Kris Didion, who threw home for the force.

As Robles attempted to throw out Curtis at first base and complete a double play, Durrington slid into Robles, causing the Spokane catcher’s throw to sail into right field. The miscue allowed Juan Rodriguez to score from second and give the Hawks a 4-2 lead.

Spokane manager Bob Herold argued with home plate umpire Matt White that Durrington had kicked his foot up to take out Robles. White disagreed and Durrington remained in the game. Robles was able to continue, but Herold lifted him in the sixth.

Spokane second baseman Kenderick Moore did not play after straining a quadricep in Sunday’s game.

, DataTimes