Southridge edges Shadle Park in title game

Shadle Park loaded the bases in the bottom of the seventh inning Saturday, but leadoff hitter Jahden Nguyen’s grounder got snatched by the Southridge third baseman and the Suns from Kennewick got the 3-2 win to take the 3A regional championship and earn their way into the state playoffs.

In the earlier game, Mt. Spokane (18-4) beat Kennewick 6-5 in eight innings to advance to the late loser-out game against the Highlanders. But a thunderstorm hit the area prompting officials to postpone the game until Monday at 4 p.m. at Al K. Jackson Field.

“Obviously, we wanted to win,” Shadle Park coach Ron Brooks said. “But we competed to the very last at-bat. That’s all you can ever ask for.”

Highlanders starter Willie Lyle-Douville took seven pitches to shut down the Suns in the top of the first.

Nguyen then led off the bottom of the first inning with a bunt single off Southridge starter Bradley Morgan.

After James Rodriguez walked, Shadle pulled off a double steal. With two outs in the top of the first inning, Dalen Hainline smacked an infield hit and the throw got away from the Southridge first baseman allowing both Nguyen and Rodriguez to score.

Southridge responded in the second inning when Ryan Sanders walked and Tate Spivey smashed a double off the right-field fence. Trenton Nett then hit an infield single that scored Sanders.

Lyle-Douville kept the Suns (17-5) in check until the fourth inning when Spivey reached on an error and Jake Kirchhoff hit a double that scored Spivey. During the play, Kirchhoff was able to advance to third base on the throw.

Southridge’s Ethan Sanders then hit a groundout to first base that scored Kirchhoff to make the score 3-2.

“You gotta tip your hat to those guys. They battled,” Southridge coach Tim Sanders said. “Douville kept our guys off-balance. I told our team, this is how these games are going to be.”

Shadle Park (12-11) must now rebound and play Mt. Spokane on Monday. The winner will advance to the state playoff round of 16.

Brooks said he expects to throw Matt Keenan at the Wildcats even though Kodee Riendeau threw six shut-out innings on May 9 in a 1-0 win over Mt. Spokane for the District 8 championship.

4A

Garrett Schmerer had the game-winning RBI on a perfectly executed squeeze bunt, Mitchell Rhodes added an insurance run with an RBI double, and University beat Gonzaga Prep 7-5 in extra innings at Walla Walla to earn the final 4A berth to state.

The Titans got off to a fast start, scoring three runs in the top of the first inning behind a Jared Smith RBI single and a two-run single from Cam Dwyer.

University beat Central Valley 4-3 earlier in the day in a loser-out game.

2A

Connor Pratt settled in after giving up a three-run homer in the first inning and Cheney nabbed a state berth with a 6-5 regional win over host Ellensburg.

Pratt pitched all seven innings for the Blackhawks, giving up just two runs after the first inning. He struck out 12.

Cheney’s Riley Jones hit a two-run double in the sixth to put the Blackhawks ahead 6-4.

1A

McKabe Cottrell allowed a run in five innings and Freeman withstood Colville’s late-game rally and beat the Indians 5-4 in the District 7 title game at Freeman.

The win gave the Scotties a berth to the state tournament.