Chris Derrick

Joe Kinch and LaCrosse-Washtucna aren't a stretch when talking about league contenders. Photo by Christopher Anderson/The Spokesman-Review

Brandy Barratt puts bite in the Bullpups. Photo by Dan Pelle/The Spokesman-Review

Perfect weather, an attendance record and a shutout win. Such are the answered dreams of the Spokane Indians, who capped their home season on a warm September evening at packed Seafirst Stadium on Friday with a 4-0 win over Yakima. Right-hander Modesto Villarreal (8-2), the club leader in wins, pitched eight strong innings - including no walks - as Spokane (35-39) equaled its most wins since 1990.

Seniors Tyson Deal and Steve Cannon could give Davenport the upper hand. Photo by Sandra Bancroft-Billings/The Spokesman-Review

1. Six-foot-6 tackle Greg Rainer and his Chewelah teammates provide an experienced line. Photo by Christopher Anderson/The Spokesman-Review 2. Fullback/linebacker Greg Belzer returns for Chewelah. Photo by Christopher Anderson/The Spokesman-Review

Few tears spilled when Dayton left its Southeast B-11 brothers. Dayton subjected the league and every other B-11 team to sheer terror last year by putting up a 12-0 record on the way to a Kingbowl title.

Live! From Spokane! It's Thursday night! All right, so it was a bit more effective for Chevy Chase. Still, the Spokane Indians are looking to capture the attention of thousands across the nation tonight. For the first time, the Indians will appear on national television. ESPN2, cable channel 59 in Spokane and 25 in Coeur d'Alene, will do the honors, with Steve Lyons and Matt Vasgersian behind the mikes.

There are a million reasons to consider this the best Northwest League baseball season in history. For the first time, the league is on target to draw 1 million fans. With 39 games remaining, an average attendance of 3,125 would push the gate count into seven figures. League teams had averaged 3,364 per game at last count.

Blood

Sticking Joel Nations in the No. 2 spot was Al Pedrique's first clever idea. Even before Nations delivered the game-winning single in the 10th inning, however, Pedrique was seized by another inspiration. The Spokane manager sent pinch-runner Dwayne Lewis from third with two outs Friday, allowing the Indians to reach extra innings in the first place.

Mild-mannered manager P.J. Carey of Portland snapped during a frustrating stint last week with the Yakima Bears. Yakima, which has plodded along at a .400 clip this year, won three of four games from the Rockies. Carey obviously noticed that Boise, on its way to winning six of nine, was whittling Portland's Northwest League Southern Division lead. (Portland, 2-1/2 games ahead, has started a streak during which it plays Boise in eight consecutive games.) Carey tempered his anger until Yakima's Kevin Gibbs was called safe at second base on a stolen-base attempt. Most witnesses thought the throw from home plate easily beat Gibbs.

The Spokane Indians found a way to stop Johnny Hilo on Saturday. Unfortunately for the Indians, their method of slowing down Hilo was by intentionally walking him in the ninth inning. Otherwise, Hilo continued his season-long feast on Spokane. The left-handed-hitting outfielder went 4 for 4 and drove in three runs as the Yakima Bears earned a 5-3 Northwest League baseball decision at Seafirst Stadium.

The last time Emiliano Escandon had a base hit was also about the last time James Vida didn't. Both streaks ended Friday as the Spokane Indians survived a meager hitting effort in a 3-0 win over Portland at Seafirst Stadium. Hal Hodge (3-1) and Craig Sanders combined on the shutout, Spokane's second of the year. Hodge was also involved in the first, a 4-0 win over Portland (27-14) on July 12.

Marc D'Alessandro has the perfect confidence to match his perfect record. "You'd be confident, too, if you could throw like that," said Spokane Indians pitching coach Theo Shaw. "I'd be surprised, the way he pitches, if anyone in this league can beat him."

Spokane's Tony Miranda can't beat Blake Barthol's tag, ending the fifth inning in Portland's 3-2 win. Photo by Kristy MacDonald/The Spokesman-Review

To explain Spokane's success against the Portland Rockies, turn to Tony Miranda. "We play every day to win," said the Indians left fielder. "We just happen to win more often against them." Miranda lashed a bases-clearing, two-out double to right-center field Tuesday to pave the way in Spokane's 8-5 victory over the Rockies at Seafirst Stadium.

Perhaps nothing logically explains Spokane's success against the Portland Rockies, but Tony Miranda has his simple theory. "We play every day to win," said the Indians left fielder. "We just happen to win more often against them." Miranda lashed a bases-clearing, two-out double to right-center field Tuesday to pave the way in Spokane's 8-5 victory over the Rockies at Seafirst Stadium.

The Portland Rockies, with 23 home dates remaining, don't need to sell another ticket to set the Northwest League attendance record. Portland passed the 100,000-mark in season attendance during last week's five-game series with Spokane. Factor in season ticket sales and the Rockies have already surpassed the 156,950 mark set by Boise last year.

The Boise Hawks didn't have much to show for their 29 hits until the perfect person stepped up to bat. Ryan Kane, who leads the Northwest League with 33 runs batted in, rocketed a two-out double to center field Saturday to catapult Boise over Spokane, 5-4 in 10 innings.

Fans have opened their arms to embrace the Spokane Indians. Photo by Dan McComb/The Spokesman-Review

The Kansas City Royals made it Scott Pinoni's choice: stay in Visalia of the California League or return to the Northwest League. Pinoni said no to Spokane of the NWL and hung up the phone. Later, however, he remembered what Visalia teammate Antonio Fernandez said. "He told me they treated him great in Spokane (in 1994)," said Pinoni, who called back K.C. minor league director Bob Hegman and said he'd go to Spokane.

Never let it be said that Boise fans are heartless. Hawks fans have a tradition of passing around a hat whenever a Boise pitcher strikes out the side. During a June 19-21 home series against Eugene, the fans filled the hat with nearly $500 for the hospital expenses of Emeralds bus driver John Bunker.

A diving Ricardo Calderon of Bellingham can't find the handle on a Spokane fly in the second inning. The indians won the Northwest League baseball game 6-3 at Seafirst Stadium. Photo by Dan McComb/The Spokesman-Review

The pitch that Patrick Hallmark couldn't hit made the biggest impression on him. Spokane's frustrations finally ended on Thursday, courtesy of Hallmark's runscoring single with two out in the bottom of the ninth inning. Hallmark went with Kurt Takahashi's 1-1 outside fastball and lashed the hit to right field with pinch-runner Tony Miranda on third base. Miranda, in the game after Scott Kortmeyer singled to open the ninth, had advanced to third on Takahashi's 0-1 wild pitch.