A Familiar State: Gsl Teams Missing University, Shadle Park Eliminated By Wenatchee In Regional Baseball

Maybe the University and Shadle Park baseball teams spent too much time watching the NBA Playoffs. On Saturday, they both imitated the Phoenix Suns.

Because of the inability of the Highlanders and Titans to protect leads, they now have the next week to watch basketball without worrying about baseball.

The Wenatchee Panthers beat University 11-7 in the championship game of the Region IV-AAA baseball tourney at Recreation Park.

Before that, Wenatchee ended Shadle Park’s season with a late-inning rally to win 7-3. The Titans had advanced to the championship game with a 4-0 win over Kennewick in the morning.

Wenatchee’s dramatics mean there will be no team from Spokane when the State AAA playoffs start next weekend at Seafirst Stadium.

In U-Hi’s loss, the Titans held a 5-2 lead after three innings before Wenatchee rallied for four in the fourth, sending nine batters to the plate.

U-Hi scored two in their half of the fourth to go up 7-6.

But two runs in the fifth and seventh innings put the game away for Wenatchee.

“When you lose these games - it’s so final,” said University coach Don Ressa. “This senior class, I’ve been hitting ground balls to them since they were little guys. But I couldn’t ask for any more. It was a great ride.”

In Shadle Park’s loss, the Highlanders took a 3-1 lead into the top of the seventh with starting pitcher Chris Wilson in control. He had allowed just three hits (one of which was a home run to Wenatchee pitcher Matt Hampton) and had faced just 21 batters in six innings.

But after getting the first batter on a groundout in the seventh inning, he walked the next two. Then he gave up back-to-back singles on first pitches and Wenatchee was on its way to its big inning.

Ten batters went to the plate for Wenatchee in the seventh as the Panthers collected five hits and six earned runs - five off Wilson and one off reliever Aaron Hancock - to put the game away.

“Every year you know it (the season) has to come to an end,” said Shadle Park coach Ron Brooks. “You hope that it doesn’t, but you know it will, but that still doesn’t make it any easier.”

So in this, the 20th anniversary of the formation of the Greater Spokane League, the GSL did in regional play what it’s done for fourteen of those years - watched Big Nine teams go to the state playoffs.

In the last 20 seasons, just six GSL teams (Shadle Park 1980, ‘82, ‘90; North Central ‘78; Mead ‘89; Ferris ‘92) have gone to state.

In the last three seasons of the City and Border Leagues, Central Valley went to state in ‘74, ‘75 and Shadle Park went in ‘73.

And in the regional matchups with the Big Nine since the formation of the GSL, the league has a record of 18-30.

Wenatchee coach Ed Knaggs, a former Gonzaga University assistant coach, said he believes that the Big Nine teams have an edge over the GSL because of their summer leagues.

“The Big Nine teams travel more and play more games against outside competition. Also, the Big Nine mixes its teams up in the summer.

“Kids from Wenatchee might play with players from Kamiakin,” Knaggs said. “I think mixing it up gives players different looks and feels for the game.”