Titans Roll Past Ferris In Opener

Prep baseball, softball

Josh Sheffield won’t forget his first Greater Spokane League game.

Eric Sandberg of Ferris has experienced plenty of GSL highlights, but he won’t add any to the list after Thursday’s rain-drenched league opener at home.

Sheffield hit a three-run homer off Sandberg in the third inning to ignite University past Ferris 10-3 in a meeting of teams that figure to challenge for the league title.

All the damage was done before the sixth inning, when heavy rain forced a half-hour delay.

Sheffield, a senior infielder, transferred this year from Freeman. “Baseball had something to do with it,” said Sheffield, who attended Gonzaga Prep as a freshman. “We have pitching (at U-Hi), and you can win with pitching.”

Sandberg’s career pitching record in the GSL had been 10-1, including last season’s 6-0 mark.

Sandberg, the 1996 GSL Triple Crown batting winner, had a dubious start to his ‘98 season. In his first at-bat, Titans starter Sean Ruscio bounced a pitch that hit the left-hander in the mouth. Sandberg applied ice after the bleeding stopped.

Ferris coach John Thacker suggested an early exit, but Sandberg wanted to stay in. Sheffield caught up to Sandberg’s two-out, 1-1 changeup to snap a 1-all tie in the third.

Titans outfielder Kyle Sale added a homer in the fifth off Steve Socha for a 9-1 lead. Sheffield also doubled, as did Brad Valkenaar, who finished with three hits.

“U-Hi was ready to play,” Thacker said. “They always seem to get up to play us. That’s a lesson for us.”

The last time the teams met, at last May’s winner-to-region district tournament game, U-Hi also defeated Sandberg.

“It was a big win for us, anytime you beat Sandberg,” Titans coach Don Ressa said of Thursday’s game.

Ressa is concerned about injuries to starting pitcher Chris McMurtrey and pitcher/outfielder Chris Short.

“It takes all 18 players to win,” Sheffield said. “Having everyone hitting each morning at 6 is a big help.”

Elsewhere in the league, Lewis and Clark defeated Rogers 7-2 and Gonzaga Prep stopped North Central 11-6.

Central Valley’s game at Shadle Park was rained out and rescheduled for 1 p.m. Saturday. Mead’s game at Mt. Spokane was suspended by darkness after 6-1/2 innings with the score tied at 5. No makeup date was announced.

At LC’s Hart Field, Chris Wheaton’s two-run homer in the second, his third of the year, backed Kurtis Broderson’s complete game in the win over Rogers. Broderson allowed four hits and struck out eight.

At G-Prep, Sean Thacker homered twice and Kurt Paras (1-1) struck out nine in six innings to defeat North Central. Aaron Farr and Chris Blotsky both had homers and three hits for the Indians, who committed 11 errors.

Softball

Candace Powers walked and scored during a two-run seventh, then drove in the winning run in the eighth with a grounder as Lewis and Clark edged Rogers 3-2 at Hart Field.

LC’s Kaylene Fountain struck out seven and allowed three hits, including Angel Fairbanks’ RBI single in the sixth.

Elsewhere it was: G-Prep 11, NC 10; Shadle 12, CV 0; Mead 9, Mt. Spokane 0; and U-Hi 9, Ferris 1.

At G-Prep, Allison Daus had an RBI in the sixth and the game-winning hit in the seventh as the Bullpups rallied past NC. Monica Mark pitched the distance and added two RBIs for Prep.

At Shadle Park, freshman Jessica Murray struck out five in five innings and limited the Bears to Lorissa Rezin’s single. The Highlanders’ Juliana Cook had a two-run single, and Dorthea Gooch and Tara Malmquist both added RBIs in the second and third.

At Mt. Spokane, Janessa Karstens pitched a two-hitter and struck out 12 to lead Mead. Racquel Gaston hit a two-run triple during a six-run fifth, when the Wildcats made five errors.

At Ferris, Cheryl Andrizzi struck out six and walked one, and Megan Mertens and Megan Owen had two hits apiece as defending champion University defeated the Saxons. The Titans have won 18 consecutive GSL games. Jenny Lytle had Ferris’ RBI.

Breanne Smith went 3 for 3 and scored three times, and Jenna Krieger pitched a two-hitter and struck out eight as Deer Park defeated visiting Lakeside 7-3 in a Great Northern League opener.

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