Sotolongo sparks sweep
Mt. Spokane transfer Niko Sotolongo provided the impetus for an extra-inning comeback in the first game and the added bonus of a sweep in the second during one of two Tuesday Greater Spokane League baseball doubleheaders.
Sotolongo’s two-out single helped rally the Wildcats to a 3-2 eight-inning triumph over visiting Central Valley and his two-run first-inning home run propelled them to a 7-1 win in the second game.
The wins enabled the Wildcats to move into fifth place in the GSL. North Central swept Clarkston in the other twinbill. The scheduled Shadle Park at West Valley doubleheader was postponed until noon today.
“This was huge,” said Mt. Spokane coach Alex Schuerman. “We feel we had a gantlet of a schedule and played several tough teams out of the chute. We’re 5-3 and won’t lose ground.”
Strong pitching by Jason Gravos and Paul Smith were other keys to Mt. Spokane’s triumphs, which dropped the Bears to 4-4.
Gravos and CV hurler Dane Knudson both pitched seven regulation shutout innings before the Bears broke through for two bunt-inspired runs in the eighth in the first game.
The Bears had put on seven base runners in the game’s first five innings, but Gravos stranded them. Knudson was even tougher, allowing two base runners through five innings before working out of trouble in the sixth and seventh.
Successive bunt singles and a sacrifice led to Nick Lallier’s two-run base hit in the eighth for CV.
But the Wildcats came right back. Knudson hit ninth hitter Bryan Raynor to lead off the bottom of the inning and gave up a double to Mark Purser. He got two infield outs before Sotolongo’s blow. Marcos Armendariz singled home the winning run.
When Sotolongo stroked a two-out two-run first-inning home run and Armendariz hit a solo blow in the fourth off Jake Swantko, that was enough runs for Smith in the second game.
Sotolongo, a catcher who moved here from Florida, pulled Swantko’s pitch over the left-field fence.
“It was a fastball inside,” he said. And the pitch to tie in the game before? “It was a fastball, too, right up the middle and he left it there.”
Smith faced a minimum 12 batters through four innings, aided by a couple of double plays, and wound up pitching a three-hitter with seven strikeouts.
Lallier also singled in CV’s lone run of Game 2, in the fifth inning.
•Cory Swennumson had four hits and four RBIs on the day to lead North Central to a doubleheader sweep of visiting Clarkston (4-4). Ryan Swanson struck out seven in a complete game, and Evan Witt chipped in two hits and scored three runs for the Indians’ 6-3 win in the early game. Swennumson’s sacrifice fly in the first and RBI double in the third pushed NC (5-3) to a 3-2 win in the nightcap. Ryan Richardson pitched another complete game for NC.
•Shadle Park’s double-header at West Valley was postponed due to weather with no make-up date set.
•Great Northern League: Anthony Jorgenson hit a three-run homer in the first, and Tyler Owens followed with a two-run double later in the inning as Medical Lake (4-1) jumped ahead early en route to a 7-2 win over host Lakeside (Nine Mile Falls) (4-2). Ryan Reitmeier struck out five in a complete game to grab the win for the Cardinals (4-1). … Grady Ryan had five strikeouts and scattered five hits for a complete-game shutout, and Riverside topped visiting Deer Park (0-6) 8-0. Kyle Hjelm went 2 for 2 with two RBIs for the Rams (3-2). … Pullman at Colville was postponed due to weather; no make-up date has been set.
•Panorama League: Matt Beckman recorded 11 strikeouts in a complete-game no-hitter and scored five runs to lead Northport to a 12-0 romp of host Selkirk. Beckman pushed his record to 4-0 after being sidelined from pitching all of last season with a partially torn ligament in his elbow.