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

Spokane Valley Baseball playoffs start Thursday

Spokane Valley Baseball playoffs will be contested over the course of the next two weeks.

The top four Giants League teams, six in the Midgets and eight from the PeeWees will be involved in the single-elimination events.

Sorting out the top four in the Giants League won’t be easy with a third of the games having gone unreported.

Regular season champion Valley Electric (Mountain View) improved its record to 11-0 with 23-5 and 18-4 wins. Three of five teams behind them will claim the other spots.

The first game will be next Thursday with the championship on July 25.

Valley Electric’s Blake Bollman went 10-for-11 during the wins, and Jesse Perry was 6-for-10 with three doubles. In one game Nick Baggerley went 4-for-5 with two triples, a double and six runs batted in.

Banner Fuel (Pasadena Park) is 10-1 and has a two-game lead with one to play in the Midget League.

Two wins last week secured the top seed in the tournament. Two other teams, Valley Instant Printing (Trentwood) and Randall & Hurley (Ponderosa), at 8-3, are in.

The other two spots will come from among five teams.

The three-day tournament also begins Thursday with the championship on July 27.

During last week’s games Spokane Valley Shrine (Otis Orchards) took a step toward one of the remaining berths with a stirring 1-0 eight-inning victory over Valley Instant Printing.

VIP won its other game easily, Dustin Dach hitting his sixth home run of the year, with the bases loaded.

Banner topped Blasingame Insurance 14-3 and Conley’s Place 12-3. Hunter Wells went 2-for-2 and scored three runs and also struck out eight while pitching in the first game. Brandon Davis was 3-for-3, tripled, scored three runs and drove in two others.

In the second win, Brady Bergman pitched no-hit ball striking out seven and was 2-for-3. Harrison Wells tripled and drove in three runs.

Randall & Hurley got a triple and four runs batted in from Brandon Anderson during a 13-0 win. Carson Schlecht drove in two runs and the two batters were part of a three-pitcher rotation that combined for 14 strikeouts.

Four teams in each division make the Pee Wee playoffs and seven of the eight are filled.

Unbeaten A-L Compressed Gases (McDonald), second-place Commercial Lending Northwest (Greenacres) and White Elephant (Summit) are in from the American Division.

White Elephant (6-3) clinched its spot by handing Commercial Lending (9-1) its first loss of the year, 7-4. The team rallied after Jake Love‘s grand slam home run had given Commercial Lending a 4-3 lead after three innings.

In the taut National Division, Mark Spear Homeselling (Otis), Spokane County Deputy Sheriff’s Assoc. (Sunrise), George Velis DDS (Ponderosa) and Gibson’s Nursery (Chester) are the top four.

Mark Spear (8-2) beat George Velis DDS (6-3-1) 7-2, once again led by Dylan Swannack. He pitched 2 1/3 no-hit innings and hit a grand slam homer. The team is tied with Spokane County Deputy Sheriff’s with two games to play.

Liberty Cup and putting

Tuesday was monthly Liberty Cup round and putting contest for Liberty Lake 18-Hole Women’s Golf Club.

Jan Hussey was the July winner with a low net of 71.

The most economical putters were Noreen Sale in C flight and Sue Meyer in D with 28 apiece.

Gloria Cash took 30, and Kathy Brown 31 led A flight. Connie Hatfield had 29 and Carol Schultz 31 in B.

Others of note were Louise Newtson, second with 30 putts in C flight, Jan Hussey with 29 and Marilyn McCanna with 32 in D.

But, who needs putts?

Not at Painted Hills where Ladies League golfers recorded eight chip-ins. Incredibly, four came on the seventh hole and three on the fifth.

Samantha Griffiths chipped in for a birdie on No. 7, where Julie Harbison, Lynn Knight and Pat Reiter also forewent putting.

Deanna Tucker, Jeanne Allemand and Penny Lancaster chipped-in on No. 5, while Marion Pillsbury soloed on No. 6.

Allemand, incidentally, remained torrid with the week’s low score of 40. She won A flight, while Liz Grafos took B with low gross 49, Pat Angove shot 54 in C, Cathy Esmay 62 in D and Colleen McGraw had 63 to win no-handicap.

Net winners with 35s were Linda Garves in A flight, Pat Gore in B and Reiter in C. Carol Grebe‘s 33 won C flight.

Trailhead President’s Cup

Wednesday was the first round of the President’s Cup competition for Trailhead Ladies Golf Club members.

Among the leaders were the weekly flight victors.

Marcia Rowley shot low gross 46 in A flight, and Deanna Hauser netted 33.

Sandi Hatcher shot 51 in B flight, and Patty Haskins netted 30. Wilma Capaul shot 55 in C flight, and Caroline Michielli had the day’s low net score of 26.

No-handicap winner was Linda Michielli, while Iness Walth had two chip-ins and Barb Gunderson and Carolyn State added one apiece.

Liberty Lake flight winners

The Liberty Lake Ladies Nine Hole golf club produced its Thursday slate of flight winners.

Karen Strauss won first flight with low gross 48, Sadie Rueckert shot 56 in second flight, and Lee King had 64 in third flight. Strauss birdied the ninth hole.

Net winners were Elaine Tai with 37 in first flight, Nel Oehrling with 36 in second and Linda Barry with 27 in third. Shirley Byus had a chip-in.