Titans Clinch Tie For Baseball Crown
University clinched a tie for its second Greater Spokane League baseball title by beating host Rogers 8-6 in nine innings Friday.
U-Hi (11-4), which won the title in 1991, completes its league season Tuesday against North Central. A three-way tie for first would occur if the Titans lost to NC and Central Valley (10-5) closed with a win over Gonzaga Prep. Shadle Park (11-5) ended its regular season with a 15-5 win over Prep.
Prep (8-7), Rogers (8-7) and Ferris (10-5) have already earned spots in the District 8-AAA Tournament, which begins Friday at Seafirst Stadium.
At Rogers, Scott Asan doubled in two runs in the top of the ninth to lead U-Hi’s win. Aaron Moe was 2-for-5 with two RBIs for U-Hi. Jon Cox and Jeff Olsen went 3-for-4 for the Pirates, and Erik Pearson (6-3) broke the league record for innings pitched in a season (78).
At Shadle, Chris Wilson had a two-run double during a 10-run third and Joe Baune had two doubles and four RBIs to lead the Highlanders. Tim Amann (2-0) went the distance, but surrendered Steve Gleason’s sixth homer.
At Hart Field, Braidon Freeman went 4-for-6 and visiting Ferris turned four double plays during a 21-0 rout of Lewis and Clark (1-14). Robert Woodside had three RBIs and Bryan Cosby was 3-for-4.
At Mead, Jeff Rinck hit a pair of solo homers and Matt Armitage added a two-run blast as the Panthers (6-9) beat NC 9-6. Keat Shankle (2-1) earned the win in relief. Nick Pugliese and Steve Sebesta had two-run homers for the Indians (3-12).
GSL softball
Mead clinched the league title, G-Prep clinched the final playoff spot and U-Hi took over second place by itself during the league’s second-to-last day.
At Mead, Holly Vanwert (10-1) allowed a leadoff single to Roxanne Devine, then held NC (9-6) hitless in a 9-2 win. Mead (14-1), which won or tied for five of the last six league titles, has a first-round bye at District 8-AAA playoffs that begin Thursday at Franklin Park. Mead’s Holly Turner had four RBIs.
At Prep, Stevie Palmer (5-7) also pitched a one-hitter - allowing Mary Jones’ single in the second - as the Bullpups (6-9) beat Shadle 11-1 to eliminate the Highlanders (4-12) from playoff contention.
Theresa Palmer had a two-run homer, and she and Meredith Giesa had four RBIs apiece for Prep, which earned the No. 6 and opens district against the No. 3 team.
The No. 3 seed may be Rogers (11-4), which slipped from a tie for second when it lost 2-0 to visiting U-Hi. Jamie Fox (12-3) pitched the shutout as the Titans (12-3) made their move to earn a first-round bye during district. U-Hi completes the regular season against NC, while Rogers plays Ferris.
Heather Beach had an RBI triple in the sixth and Elizabeth Madsen an RBI single in the seventh for U-Hi. Gena Greenside was 3-for-3 for Rogers.
At Hart Field, Beth Rasmussen was 2-for-4 with four RBIs as visiting Ferris (3-12) beat LC 13-6. Suzanne Winkler of LC (1-14) had two doubles and two RBIs.
Frontier League softball
Whitney Bliss (3-0) pitched a no-hitter in the second game and Cecilia Sooy (2-3) hurled a one-hitter in the opener as Cheney (7-5) swept visiting Pullman 14-0, 19-0.
Jennifer Williams hit a two-run homer in the opener and Jenna Heffernan scored five times in the second game. Katie Werner had the lone hit for the Greyhounds (0-10).
Panorama League baseball
St. George’s and Northport won league playoff games to join Curlew and Northwest Christian at the District 7-B Tournament.
St. George’s beat Republic 3-2 as Mike Thomas (6-2) pitched a two-hitter and Mark Cartwright tripled in the winning run in the fifth. Northport ousted Inchelium 9-1 as Guy Baribault homered and tripled.
Seeding for district is Monday at Colville and Kettle Falls. In the morning, St. George’s plays Curlew while NWC challenges Northport.
Bi-County baseball
Carson Keeble (5-2) threw a seven-inning no-hitter and hit a homer as Reardan defeated visiting Sprague-Harrington 9-0 in the first game of a doubleheader.