Trowbridge lifts U-Hi
It appeared David Borgman had rallied the Central Valley baseball team to victory when he completed a 4-for-4 day with his fourth homer of the season in the top of the seventh.
With the Bears trailing 4-3, Borgman lifted a two-run homer to right-center.
Borgman’s heroics didn’t last long, though. In the bottom of the seventh, Andrew Trowbridge hit a first-pitch walk-off two-run homer near the same spot Borgman had hit his as the University Titans handed Central Valley its first loss, 6-5 in Greater Spokane League action Friday at U-Hi.
“I was just looking to get something in the air to move the runner around so the next guy could come up and knock him in,” Trowbridge said. “I just wanted to be a team player. We just wanted to battle back and compete.”
It was the second one-run decision between the teams in two days as the teams reached the midway point of the regular season.
“It was a great effort by us,” U-Hi coach Scott Sutherland said. “It shows we can play with the better teams in Spokane right now. We’re a little down from last year. We’ve been struggling and trying to find out way. This really gives us a lot of confidence for the second half.”
CV (9-1), ranked seventh in the Seattle Times’ 4A rankings, opened a 2-0 lead in the first. The Titans (6-4) bounced back to take a 3-2 lead in the third. Ian Craig-Scott had a run-scoring triple, John Schmedding knocked in a run on a ground out and Thomas Wakem plated the third run with a double.
The Bears tied it at 3-3 in the fifth when Borgman, who reached on a single and eventually stole third, scored on a wild pitch.
U-Hi edged ahead at 4-3 in the sixth when Craig-Scott hit an opposite-field RBI single.
Outside of Borgman, the usually productive Bears didn’t have many quality at-bats.
“We left too many guys on base,” CV coach Barry Poffenroth said. “Any time you’re playing a U-Hi team, you better take advantage of every opportunity you have, and we didn’t.”
Sutherland was pleased with his team’s effort offensively.
“We’re sort of like the (Seattle) Mariners,” Sutherland said. “We’re not going to blow anybody out offensively. Every game is going to be a nail-biter. I’m going to have a lot of gray hair at the end of the year. We did a nice job at the plate of not striking out and putting the ball in play hard and seeing what happens.”
Mt. Spokane 15, Ferris 14 (8): The Wildcats (9-1) moved into a first-place tie with CV, rallying for six runs in the top of the eighth inning to knock off the Saxons in a wild game at Ferris. The Saxons (5-5) scored five runs in the bottom of the eighth. Every Mt. Spokane batter had a hit. Preston Van Doren led the Wildcats with two hits, including a homer, and three RBIs. Teammate Mike Blankenship had a grand slam. Beau Bozett went 3 for 3 with three runs for Ferris.
Lewis and Clark 12, Mead 10: Josh Martin and Dakota Dubois hit two-run homers in the sixth to lead the Tigers (6-4) past the Panthers (6-2) at Mead. LC’s Sage Poland went 3 for 4 with a solo homer.
Jake Schrader continued his hot hitting ways, going 3 for 4, including a homer, and three RBIs.
Shadle Park 10, Gonzaga Prep 6: The Highlanders (3-7) held off the winless Bullpups (0-8) at SP. The Bullpups pulled within 7-6 in the top of the sixth and were threatening. But with the bases loaded and one out, the Highlanders got out of the jam. In the bottom of the inning, Parker Scott had a two-run single and Ben Shoemaker had a run-scoring hit for the Highlanders. G-Prep scored four runs in the fifth thanks to four straight hits.
East Valley 8, Rogers 5: Kyle Primm knocked in the go-ahead run with a double in the sixth as the Knights (2-5) stopped the Pirates (1-7) at EV. Morgan Nowles got the win in relief, allowing no runs in four innings while striking out three. Jim Wasem led Rogers with two hits, including a two-run homer.