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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

U-Hi Beats Ferris Ace To Go To Regionals

GSL baseball

Don Ressa met Ferris baseball coach John Thacker near home plate Saturday and asked the million-dollar question: “Lefty or righty?”

In layman’s terms, University coach Ressa wanted to know whether Ferris ace Eric Sandberg’s shoulder was sound enough to pitch.

Thacker answered, “Lefty,” which meant U-Hi would meet Sandberg, who was 6-0 before Saturday, including a 10-0 one-hitter over U-Hi.

Three batters into the game U-Hi had two hits and one run. It was no fluke, either. The Titans continued to pressure Sandberg all afternoon, and emerged with a 6-5 decision in a District 8-AAA tournament winner-to-region game at Seafirst Stadium.

“You just don’t worry about who’s going to throw,” said Ressa, taking U-Hi back to region after a one-year absence. “You’ll get yourself all warped up that way.”

“We could have been intimidated after (Sandberg) threw that one-hitter, but we just went out and played,” said winner Sean Ruscio (5-3), who also saved U-Hi’s 10-9 opening-day win over Central Valley.

U-Hi (13-10) will play GSL champion Mead (16-4) at 3:45 p.m. Tuesday at Seafirst for regional seeding. Region is Saturday in the Tri-Cities against Big Nine Conference champ Kennewick and No. 2 Richland.

U-Hi’s district playoff fate wasn’t settled until the final day of the Greater Spokane League season. The Titans won that game - creating a three-way tie for fourth place - then won coin flips to enter district as the fourth seed.

Veteran Ressa said he remembered just two other teams, one of his and another from Rogers, winning three at district to make region.

“I gotta admit, it takes a lot of luck to get to this point,” Ressa said.

Timely hitting came in more handy than luck for U-Hi. Against Ferris, Brett Haiar had one-out RBI doubles in the first and sixth, Robert Bartlett had a two-out RBI single in the second, and Andy Dunham had an RBI single and Brandon Florence an RBI double after two were out in the fifth.

Sandberg, injured late in the season while sliding into home, struck out 11, but Ruscio was better at avoiding sticky situations. Twice he coaxed third outs from No. 2 hitter K.C. McVey, forcing Sandberg, last year’s league triple crown winner, to lead off the following inning.

“I’ve played against (Sandberg) many times,” Ruscio said. “I always like facing him because it’s a great challenge.”

Joel Soter’s two-out, two-run triple in the fourth let Ferris (11-7) tie the game at 3. U-Hi responded with two runs in the fifth, as the first of two costly infield errors struck Ferris.

Steve Socha’s RBI single in the sixth was the final hit Ruscio allowed. Sandberg, opening the seventh, jumped on the first pitch and grounded to short.

In the opening game against CV (11-8), U-Hi trailed 3-0 after 1-1/2 innings, but a pair of infield errors led to six unearned runs off starter Brian Chance.

The Titans built the lead to 8-3 and withstood every Raif Jochim-led rally. Jochim went 4 for 5 with five RBIs, including a bases-clearing double in the fifth that chased starter Brad Valkenaar.

Valkenaar’s relief, Bill Conant, recorded four consecutive outs before running into trouble in the seventh. The Bears, with one-out RBI singles by Ryan Nelson and Jochim, trailed 10-9 with runners on first and second. Reliever Ruscio shut the door with two easy outs.

Bartlett was 2 for 4 with three RBIs, and Rusty Davis went 3 for 4 with two RBIs.

University 10, Central Valley 9

C.Valley 120 130 2 - 9 14 4

University 062 020 x - 10 9 1

Chance, Gardner (2), Jochim (3) and Folkins; Valkenaar, Conant (5), Ruscio (7) and Haiar. W-Valkenaar (2-1). L-Chance (3-2). S-Ruscio.

HITS: Central Valley-Nelson 2, Miller 2, Jochim 4, Folkins, Boots, J.Paventy, Wilson 2, Johnson. University-Fryer, Bartlett 2, Haiar 2, Davis 3, Price. 2B-Jochim, Boots, Wilson, Fryer, Bartlett 2. 3B-Price.

University 6, Ferris 5

University 110 121 0 - 6 8 0

Ferris 000 311 0 - 5 8 3

Ruscio and Haiar; Sandberg and Munhall. W-Ruscio (5-3). L-Sandberg (6-1).

HITS: University-Fryer, Bartlett, Haiar 2, Davis, Dunham, Florence 2. Ferris-Sandberg, Munhall, Molett 2, Hodl, Soter, Socha 2. 2B-Haiar 2, Florence, Molett. 3B-Soter.

, DataTimes