Blue Devils Go On To State After Slipping Past Cannons

The formula for a great championship baseball game would be strong pitching, clutch hitting and outstanding defense, mixed together for a close, tense showdown.

And, because it’s high school athletes playing for the Spokane AAA American Legion championship, there will be a few miscues.

That’s exactly what transpired at Gonzaga University on Monday evening as the Northwest Athletics Blue Devils pulled out a taut 3-2 win over the Spokane Valley Cannons.

The Blue Devils won the three-game series 2-1 and head to the state tournament in Centralia beginning Saturday. Their first game will be at 9:30 a.m.

“That was a great baseball game,” winning coach Steve Hertz said. “Two good teams. Two pitchers threw their hearts out with all the marbles on the table… . It’s good to see kids play good baseball in that big of a game.”

The win went to Ben Sorcinelli, who battled himself all game. He scattered five hits and struck out five but hit three batters and walked three in the nine inning game.

Ezra Bocook singled to center to drive in pinch runner John Petrie with one out in the bottom of the ninth.

Jason Widerspahn opened the ninth with a walk. Joel Evans followed with a bloop single and Widerspahn raced to third on a throwing error.

The hard-luck loser was Seth Gemar, who had a perfect game until second baseman David Marlow couldn’t backhand Spencer Bishop’s grounder up the middle with two outs in the sixth. Overall, Gemar was backed by a defense that made outstanding plays but made four errors on routine plays, making all three runs unearned. His only walk haunted him.

“He was pitching a great game,” Sorcinelli said of his opposite. “I got in a little trouble and thought, `Uh oh.’ The key was just remembering to follow through, keep my mechanics… . I got away with it.”

Sorcinelli was perfect until Tyson Fitterer led off the fourth with a single.

The Cannons broke through in the sixth when Fitterer scored on an error by Blue Devils catcher George Bell. With Chris Rodgers on first after a walk, Bell tried to pick Fitterer off third as Rodgers stole second. The ball hit Fitterer in the helmet and caromed into left field.

The Blue Devils scored in the seventh and eighth. Both times the leadoff batter reached on errors. Jerin Harper had the clutch single in the seventh and Jake Williams had the honors in the eighth.

“We just didn’t make enough plays,” said Cannons coach Travis Jewett, Hertz’s assistant at Gonzaga University. “Seth did a great job. He pitched to win. That’s an effort that needs to be backed up.”

The Cannons tied the game in the top of the ninth when Jeremy Nichols walked and pinch runner Joe Binder scored on a wild pitch after Nate Brown singled him to third.

But Bocook made sure the game didn’t go extra innings.

“I haven’t been hitting that well,” said Bocook, who had a similar game-winning hit in a high school game this spring. “I was just looking for a fastball… . We haven’t played this good all year. Everybody had great focus. If they had put a crooked number (more than one run in an inning) up, I would have been worried. I knew we were still in it.”