Indians in good position to make second-half run

The Northwest League baseball season will reach the halfway point Monday, during the middle game of the Spokane Indians’ five-game home series against the Vancouver Canadians.

The good news for the Indians is that they’re in position to repeat as East Division and league champions. Entering tonight’s home game against Vancouver, Spokane (19-16) is tied for the East lead with Tri-City.

The downside is that the Indians haven’t shown the overall punch they displayed last season. Spokane was eight games better than .500 through 34 games in 2003.

But for those with short memories, last season was anything but a stroll in the park for Spokane. The Yakima Bears were tied for first place with Spokane with four weeks left in the season and chased the Indians until the end.

Spokane faces another challenge this season that it didn’t face in 2003. Last year’s East pennant race quickly developed into a two-team challenge between Spokane and Yakima. This season, all four teams in the division were within four games of first place (after Thursday’s games).

A few differences are apparent from last year:

“Spokane again has a good record in home games at Avista Stadium (10-6), but the 2003 Indians finished an astounding 30-8 at home.

“The Indians beat up on the West Division last season, winning 29 of 40 games from Salem-Keizer, Everett, Eugene and Vancouver. This year, Spokane has already lost 11 games to the West, with 20 games remaining against those divisional teams.

“The 2003 Indians boasted the league’s top two hitters, Dane Bubela (.323) and Jeremy Cleveland (.322). Three other Indians regulars hit better than .275 and were among the top 17 in league batting.

This year, catcher Mike Nickeas (.333) and third baseman Travis Metcalf (.283) are the lone Indians regulars hitting better than .275.

Still, Spokane can point to some positives as the season enters its final six weeks:

“The Indians enter today’s game with a four-game winning streak and a 10-5 record against their divisional rivals.

“The pitching staff features nine players with earned-run averages of 3.90 or less. Earlier this month, the Indians unveiled the “piggyback” rotation that served them so well last year. Pairs of pitchers trade off on starts, working four or five innings each outing.

“Spokane’s Darryl Kennedy, last year’s NWL manager of the year, has guided teams to the postseason in all six of his seasons as skipper in the Texas Rangers’ organization.

“Starting tonight, the Indians will play 22 of their final 41 games at home. If the East race boils down to a showdown between Spokane and Tri-City, two clubs owned by the Brett brothers, the Indians have the advantage of hosting Tri-City for the final three games of the season, Sept. 3-5.