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Happy 4th for Blue Devils

Northstars catcher C.J. Wolfe fires the ball to first base after making the force out at the plate to turn a double play during the championship game. (Joe Barrantine/ / The Spokesman-Review)
Josh Petrie Correspondent
Northstars catcher C.J. Wolfe fires the ball to first base after making the force out at the plate to turn a double play during the championship game. (Joe Barrantine/ / The Spokesman-Review)

In the first all-local final in tournament history, the Blue Devils defeated the Northstars 3-2 to win the Senior American Legion 4th of July Tournament Monday at Jackson Field.

The Blue Devils, who were shut out by the Northstars 4-0 on Wednesday and 12-0 on Thursday, jumped on pitcher Travis Bertholf early to become the first Spokane team to win the tournament since 1997.

“We’ve had a lot of trouble against this team,” Blue Devils first baseman Logan Davenport said of the Northstars. “Today, we proved to them, showed them that we could beat them.”

The Blue Devils loaded the bases in the bottom of the first inning, then Davenport cleared the bases with a three-run double to put the Blue Devils ahead 3-1.

“It was pretty much lucky,” Davenport said. “The kid charged it, and it was hit a little too hard, and it went over his head.”

That was all the run support pitcher Cody Wagner would need, who allowed one more run on a Keith Tappe RBI groundout in the fourth and scattered just three hits.

“Wagner actually hasn’t logged a lot of innings for us. He’s also a very good outfielder and hitter,” Blue Devils coach Jared Hertz said. “So we challenged him with the championship game, and obviously, he rose to the occasion. He was constantly working each at-bat.”

Wagner also had some help on defense in the sixth. After Pete Birdwell and Jeff Walker led off the inning for the Northstars with singles and Michael McCanna laid down a sacrifice bunt to advance the runners to second and third, Travis Fox hit a blooper into left field. Ryan Reitmeier fielded the ball off a bounce and fired a throw home to beat John Hauck, who was pinch running for Birdwell.

“I was scared when the ball hit the ground, but then Ryan picked up the ball and made a great throw, and we nailed him,” Wagner said. “He recovered really well.”

Wagner took control from there, striking out three of the last four batters to earn the win.

In the third-place game, the El Segundo (Calif.) Blues defeated the Budd Bay Bandits of Olympia 6-3.

In other AAA Legion action during the week, the Spokane Bandits won an eight-inning thriller 7-6 over the Pullman Patriots on Tuesday. Andy Greenslit scored from third in the top of the eighth during a rundown at second on a double steal attempt.

•Coeur d’Alene routed Ferris 14-1 in five innings to win the American Legion Junior 4th of July Tournament on Monday at West Valley High School.

West Valley defeated North Central earlier in the day 4-2 to win third place.

In AA Legion action last week, Adam Smith of University had five RBIs in just five innings, as University defeated Cheney 16-1 on Wednesday. Smith hit a three-run home run in the first and an RBI double in the second, then drove in another run after being hit by a pitch. … Nick Collison improved to 3-0 with an 11-strikeout outing Tuesday, as Newport defeated Mead 7-2.

Softball

Eagle Sportswear wins Shootout

Eagle Sportswear of Spokane won seven straight games to win the 18U championship of the Spokane Softball Umpires Association George Knowles Memorial 4th of July Shootout Softball Invitational.

The tournament included 53 teams in four divisions and featured pool play followed by a single-elimination tournament Friday through Sunday throughout Spokane.

Eagle (18-2) beat Central Oregon Wildfire 13-0, Glacier Emeralds 10-1, Spokane Mustangs 16-1 and Lewiston Dawgs 7-1 in pool. Morgan Thomsen, a West Valley graduate playing at Community Colleges of Spokane, was 10 for 13 with three doubles, a triple and three home runs. Rachel Maddox hit a grand slam homer in the pool opener.

On Sunday, the team beat Spokane Impact 10-2, Full Throttle from Walla Walla 3-2 in the semifinals and Bitterroot BallStars of Montana 7-4 in the final.

Jessie LaPlante, 3-0 in the tourney, pitched the title win and had two hits. Catcher Aimee Fitting – like LaPlante, a Lakeland and CCS product – had a game-winning two-run double.

LaPlante and University grad Linse Vlahovich were both 3-0 in the tournament.

Washougal Mustangs won the 16U championship, Bad Girls from Missoula the 14U title and Spokane Crash beat Valley Villains in the All-Spokane area 12U final.

Golf

Three qualify for America’s Cup

Lewis and Clark senior Molly Fuhs and Gonzaga Prep senior Annie Brophy have both qualified for two of junior golf’s most prestigious events: the USGA Junior Girls Amateur at BanBury Golf Club in Eagle, Idaho, and the Junior America’s Cup in Guadalajara, Mexico.

Fuhs tied for medalist honors with Caroline Kim of British Columbia, shooting 3-over-par 75 at the US Junior Girls Amateur sectional qualifier at Apple Tree Golf Course in Yakima on June 27. Brophy tied for third place with Christine Cho of Kent with 76.

Brophy placed second in the Junior World qualifier on Friday at Tumwater Valley Golf Course, five shots behind Cho, to qualify for the Junior World and Junior America’s Cup teams. Fuhs tied for sixth, 10 shots back, and qualified for the Junior America’s Cup.

On the boys’ side, Ferris junior Dustin Poe tied with Clarkston senior Joel Dahmen for first place at the boys’ Junior World qualifier at Tumwater Valley on Friday. Poe and Dahmen each had two-day totals of 8-under 136. Poe will represent Washington at the Junior World tournament, starting Monday at Torrey Pines in San Diego.