Rain can’t dampen start of Spokane Valley Baseball

Spokane Valley Baseball got through a week of rain to kick off another year.

The league, which has evolved into one for ages 5 through 14, has been a staple of the Valley since the mid-1950s.

Teams most affected by the wet weather on opening day two weeks ago came from the Giants and Midget leagues.

Still, Blasingame Insurance from Centennial, got off to a quick start in the Giants league with a pair of wins, including 8-7 over Horizon 2.

And in the Midgets League, National Division team Whalen Chiropractic (St. Mary’s) won three straight games, 13-2 over Valley Instant Printing and identical 6-2 scores over George Velis DDS and Sidelines.

Seven other teams in the two leagues combined, won their openers.

The Pee Wees, for youngsters ages 9 and 10 were able, for the most part, to have a complete schedule.

Dr. DeCounter DDS from Pasadena, and Conley’s Place from Opportunity were the respective American and National leaders with perfect 3-0 records after Wednesday.

Three other teams were 2-0 with a handful of scores unreported.

During a 6-3 win over Sterling Self Storage, Dr. DeCounter scored four times in the sixth inning to rally for the win.

Carson Driskill hit a two-run double in the deciding inning and Brady Bergman homered in the game. Brandon Davis struck out nine and allowed one hit in his three-inning stint.

Dalton Arndt of Sterling drove in all three of his team’s runs with a fourth-inning homer that put the team up 3-2.

Conley’s Place defeated Custom Touch Concrete 12-2, breaking open a scoreless game with seven runs in the third inning. Austin Sturgis capped scoring with a three-run homer in the fifth and struck out six, allowing two hits during his pitching stint.

Among other highlights, Brandon Stalker struck out 12 batters in five innings of two pitching outings to blank his Spokane Indians foes, but once he left the mound, teams scored 23 runs to defeat the Indians.

Mountain Dew won twice as Mitchell Sanders fanned eight and Dakota Pearce seven, in a 7-6 victory over Complete Suite Furniture. A pair of Ryans, Ryan Wells with a two-out, two-run double, and Ryan Downing, 3-for-3 with two doubles, led the offense in wins over Complete Suite and Autocraft.

Complete Suite’s Mark Seely pitched and had two hits, including a homer, for three RBIs against Mountain Dew.

Pizza Hut (Trentwood) scored in the top of the seventh on Matthew Stewart‘s RBI single that scored Dustin Dach to beat Gibson’s Nursery (St. Mary’s) 5-4.

Zachary Allen went 5-for-5 for Tom’s Barber Shop, including a grand slam home run in two games last week. Kyle Cushing pitched a win and went 3-for-3 in a one-run loss for the team.

Blasingame rallied for five runs in the seventh to beat Horizon 2, Barry Yount driving in the winning run.The pitching of Ben Ward, eight strikeouts against East Valley and relief work against Horizon 2 proved vital.

Medal play week for golfers

MeadowWood: During Wednesday’s competition among MeadowWood Women’s 18-Hole Club golfers, Suzi Stone was at the top of her game.

Stone shot low gross 75 to lead her flight of the weekly group outing.

Other flight leaders were Jacki Shea with 88, Sandy McLaughlin with 88, and Kitty Duval with 97.

Net winners were CeBe Moore with 72, Raouleen Grimes with 74, Glenda March with 75, and Caroline Arnot with 76.

There are openings for new membership. Tee times are Wednesday at 8:30 a.m.

Liberty Lake 18s: During Tuesday’s competition across the street in Liberty Lake, Rose Jones had an A flight leading score of 77.

Connie Hatfield shot 98 in B flight, Marie Nelson and Dorothy Womach tied at 98 in C flight, and Freda Bergt shot 115 to lead D.

Respective net winners were Patty Gowell with 69, Debby West with 74, Dorothy Womach with 98, and Jan Krogseth with 78.

Painted Hills: Tuesday’s outing at the Valley 9-Hole course produced some strong scoring with Carol Blume shooting 41 to lead A flight. She chipped in for a birdie on the fourth hole.

B flight golfer Marcia Taylor and no-handicap golfer Teresa Stolp each shot 48. C winner was Beverly Younglund with 54, and D went to Pat Reiter with 60.

Net winners were Inge Klep with 34 in A flight. There was a tie between Vivian Zagelow and Joyce Jacobs with 31 in B. Pat Schlosstein shot 33 in C and Penny Lancaster had 32 in D.

Other chip-ins came from Samantha Griffiths on No. 5, Joann Sheard on No. 9, Sue Matsui and Younglund, both on No. 4.

Trailhead: En route to her round of 43 that led A flight, Betty Grassl had a birdie on the 10th hole.

Grassl had low gross score for the day, with Nel Oehrling shooting 54 in B flight, Bev Johnson 58 in C flight and Harriet Carbon 59 in no-handicap.

Net winners were Dee Elder with 30 in A flight, Eileen Couper with 36 in B and Pat Woollett with 27 in C. Emma Long had a chip-in on No. 4.

Liberty Lake 9s: Leader of the 9-Holers club was Karen Strauss who shot a first-flight 45, while Joyce Harris netted 39. In second flight Deanna Hauser had a 61 and Lee King netted 40. And in third flight, Alice Sturman shot 62 and Alice Vaughn netted 39.

There was a chip-in on No. 1, by Lorraine Martin.