Gonzaga Prep baseball season ends with pair of losses

PASCO – Baseball can be a funny game, what with its funny bounces, 400-foot fly outs and 2-foot base hits.

But on Saturday, baseball was no laughing matter for Gonzaga Prep coach Brian Munhall and his Bullpups.

Needing one victory to advance to the Class 4A state regional tournament, Prep could not come up with a win at the GSL-MCC regional tournament at Gesa Stadium.

Gonzaga Prep lost 3-2 to Walla Walla in the championship, then fell 8-5 to Chiawana in the bid for the second state berth.

“It was just a strange day, period,” said Munhall. “It was one of those weird days. We had our hearts ripped out in that first game, and then we’re supposed to sit around for 90 minutes and wait for the second game.”

Indeed, Prep had its ace on the mound in Seth Kuykendall against Walla Walla. The senior right-hander kept the Blue Devils off balance through the first four innings.

Brayden Lanphere, the Bullpups’ No. 9 hitter, had given Kuykendall a 1-0 lead when he singled in the second inning to drive in Bo McGinn.

But in the fifth inning, Wa-Hi put a few hits together – including a triple, single and another triple in consecutive at-bats – to touch Kuykendall for three runs. It was enough to give the Blue Devils the victory.

Prep scored another run in the sixth, when McGinn’s sacrifice fly scored Carsten Schmidt. But that was it.

The Bullpups had the game-tying run in scoring position at second in the seventh. But Wa-Hi reliever Mitch Lesmeister struck out one batter, then induced Jeffrey Young to hit into a game-ending 5-4-3 double play.

Altogether, Gonzaga Prep was 1-for-9 at the plate with runners in scoring position.

“That’s just baseball,” said Kuykendall. “You can hit the ball as hard as you can, and it might be an out. They got one good inning off of me. But they’re a good team. They’re scrappy and they’ve come from behind a lot this season. They’re going to state. I wish it was us.”

Chiawana 8, Gonzaga Prep 5: Ninety-minute wait between games or not, Prep still had a chance to go to state if it could beat Chiawana.

It didn’t look so good when Chiawana jumped out to a 4-0 lead.

But Prep bounced back with four runs in the bottom of the second to tie the game. Kuykendall, Phillip Reynolds and Lanphere each had RBI singles.

The key moment may have come in the fifth. The game was tied at 5, and Prep got Schmidt on with a leadoff single, followed by a walk to Ryan Gross.

With Kuykendall at the plate, Munhall sent Schmidt streaking for third on the pitch. Kuykendall hammered a pitch to the right side, where Chiawana first baseman Bristol McElroy snared the line drive, stepped on first base, then fired to second to get Schmidt out for a triple play.

“I tried to get something going,” said Munhall. “We’re up 7-5 in the bottom of the fifth if that ball gets through.”

In the sixth, Prep again had runners on first and second, with one out, when Lanphere hit a screaming liner that Riverhawks second baseman Collin Favor snared and turned into an inning-ending double play.

Chiawana would break out for three runs in the top of the seventh, and this time Prep could not answer, ending its season with an 18-6 record.

“They outplayed us, and we made some mistakes,” said Munhall. “But I told the seniors I was so proud at how great we played this season. These guys fought their butts off.”