Sas Turns It On After Mental Talk From Coach

At one point this season, Spokane Athletic Supply was in last place in the AA league, having lost its first five games and seven of its first eight.

Since then the Central Valley team has won 11 of 12, moved into fourth place in the South Division of the AA league and finished second in the Fourth of July tournament.

A jump-start from a coach used to a different approach to the game didn’t hurt.

“They were accepting losing a little bit. They had the mentality they were just going to have fun,” said first-year coach Jeff Simmelink. “That isn’t why I was out there.”

Simmelink played and coached at Kamiakin High School in Kennewick where SAS this weekend is involved in the Kennewick Duster Bowl tournament.

“I come from Legion ball in the Tri-Cities which is extremely serious,” said Simmelink. “I had a fairly intense conversation with the team after our seventh loss. Basically, they’ve come out with a much better mental approach.”

Mike Tasca, he said, is hitting .600 while playing first base and designated hitter.

Chad Adamson in centerfield has been another plus for the team.

Collectively the pitching, said Simmelink, has come around.

Chris Funk is 4-0, Rob McGlothin has moved into the starting rotation along with Nick Ostrom and Tim Jarvis. Joe Paventy has provided quality spot starts, said Simmelink, and Jeff Crouch has been solid in relief.

The result has been seven straight league triumphs and a 4-1-1 mark in the Fourth of July tournament. The team beat Spokane Olympic Sports 7-3, tied the Bellevue Blue Sox 12-12, beat the Deer Park Eagles 16-3, Bellevue Legion 9-5 and Yakima Peppers 9-8.

They lost to Enumclaw 10-6 in the title game.

In league last week, SAS beat current division runnerup Eagle Hardware/Pepsi.

“It’s the same kids, the same talent level with better preparation before the game,” said Simmelink. “We have kids with potential. They’re just starting to play that way.”

Valley Baseball playoffs next week

The regular season has ended and tournament play begins next week for Spokane Valley Baseball teams.

Autocraft from West Valley won the Giants League with a 6-5 victory over Valley Electric.

Tom’s Barber Shop from Chester finished with a two-game Midget League lead over a trio of teams.

And in the Pee Wee League, Medicine Shoppe of South Pines was undefeated. Three teams with a single loss finished right behind.

Among Giants highlights, runnerup Evergreen got five runs batted in from Andrew Bower and three more by Paul Shryack during an 11-3 victory over George Velis DDS.

Third-place Broadway Eye Care got four innings of one-hit pitching by Eric McMurtrey who also had a pair of hits, including a two-run double, to drive in three runs total. Ryan Larkin added a three-run double.

County Deputy Sheriff’s moved into sixth place with a 4-1 victory over Food Rainbow. Greg Durgin had two key RBIs in the third inning.

Midget highlights

Pavillion Park, part of three-way tie, earned second seed in the tournament when the Spokane Indians walked in a pair of runs during an 8-6 loss.

The Indians turned up the offense, scoring 36 runs during two wins to finish tied with Pavillion Park and Millwood.

Ryan Moore was torrid at bat. In three games he had a two-run home run, a two-run triple and went 3-for-4 against Art Conscious, driving in seven runs and scoring three. Included was a grand slam homer.

Sam Brune and Bobby Williams were 3-for-3 and scored three runs each. Brune also had a two-run home run against Olympic Sports.

Neurosurgery Associates’ Jeremy Kline went 4-for-4 in one game and teammate Jared Fitting was 4-for-4 in another.

McDonald’s Donnie Marcille finished up the year by going 6-for-9 in his final three games, which included an eight-inning 6-6 tie with contender Valley Kiwanis.

Kiwanis’s Brian Danelo had three hits and Jason Nelson drove in two runs.

Pee Wee highlights

Medicine Shoppe completed an 11-0 season by winning 33-3 in its finale.

Earlier the team beat Dr. DeCounter and Inland Imaging as pitchers Grant Bruscoe and Nick Burger combined for 25 strikeouts. Burger had five hits in two games and was one of four batters to have three against Inland.

Bert Shields Auto, winner of its last 10 games, and Homestead Construction finished half a game behind with CXT one game out.

Three other teams had two losses.

Bert Shields pitchers Luke Raynor and Bret Riggin had 18 strikeouts against South Pines II. Seven different players had two-hit games during the final two wins.

During three victories, four Pavillion Park pitchers divided 46 strikeouts. Scott Froelich had 17 in two games, Braden Jensen had 19 in three.

The team edged Pizza Hut 1-0 on Jason Wurz’s bases loaded walk in the bottom of the eighth inning.

Jim Psomas DDS finished at 9-2, Chase Gregorian and Michael Johnson with four hits each in the last two games.

Liberty Lake 9-Hole outings

Liberty Lake Ladies 9-Hole golfer Elaine Tai had nearly identical scores during two medal play outings.

The day before the 4th of July, Tai shot 53 and the next week had 52 to lead A flight golfers. Toby Pfeiffer with 36 and Lolly Neff with 42 were net winners.

Marty Leibelt shot 55 and Nancy Lampe shot 58 in B flight. Sadie Rueckert netted 33 and Shirley Schoenberger 36. in B. C flight leader both times was Joyce Harris with a pair of 61s. Sybill Sturgill was net leader with a pair of 39s.

D flight went to Joanne Schultz and Elberta Walker for low gross and Deanne Hauser for low net.

Nancy Whitman and Marjie Haser were no handicap leaders.

It’s still Geiger

Make it three straight victories for Caroline Geiger during Painted Hills Ladies Club golfing.

She shot 47 and shared low-gross honors with no-handicap golfer Jodi Ribail last week.

Sherrel Roshdy shot 50 in B flight, Nancy Hansen had 56 in C and Renae Younker 58 in D.

Net winners were Stacey Johnston with 35 in A flight, Margi Evenson with 36 in B, Patty Thomson with 33 in C and Kathy Taylor with 31 in D.

Maycock wins at Valley View

During medal play for Valley View Ladies Club golfers, Carol Maycock recorded low gross 50 in A flight. Genevra Barrett had 52 in B and Emma Long shot 67 in C.

Net winners were Haser with 31 in A, Hauser with 29 in B and Laura Odette with 39 in C.

, DataTimes