Eagles, Indians knocked out

YAKIMA – Spokane area schools have seen all they want of schools from the Yakima-area Mid-Valley League in the state baseball playoffs.

Just ask West Valley coach Don O’Neal.

O’Neal’s Eagles were eliminated Saturday by MVL and Bi-District runner-up Selah, 5-3, at Yakima County Stadium. The loss ends West Valley’s season at 17-6. That followed North Central’s 4-1 loss to Newport in Game 1, finishing the season for Spokane-area 3A schools.

Since the Eagles won the old Class 2A title in 1978 they are 1-8 in state play with seven of the losses coming at the hands of schools from the Mid-Valley League.

Saturday it was a four-run fifth-inning uprising by the Vikings that effectively ended the Eagles’ season.

Cameron Eaton walked, and Eddie Jenkins followed with a single. Brooks Archer doubled to the wall in left center, scoring Eaton, and Britton Goodwin tripled to the wall in left center, plating two. Ryan Durkee then singled in Goodwin for a 5-2 Vikings lead.

Selah sophomore pitcher Derek Welton also did plenty to contribute to the untimely end to West Valley’s season.

Welton settled down after giving up two early runs, facing the minimum 12 batters in innings three through six.

West Valley, which scored two runs in the second on booming doubles by Mitch Phillips and Greg Bradley and a single by Matt Peterson, got something going with two outs in the bottom of the seventh.

Bradley tripled and Casey Sherrill singled, scoring Bradley, but Phillip Gannon struck out to end the inning and the season.

Newport 4, North Central 1

The Indians fifth trip to the state tournament in seven years was derailed by a dominating pitching performance on the part of Daniel Hagensen.

The left-hander faced the minimum 15 batters in the final five innings, limiting the Indians to three hits and striking out eight.

The Indians – who lost in the first round for the third straight trip – got a run in the second on a double by Brett Richardson and a two-out single by Jory Hustad. After that, Hagensen allowed just one base runner – Boone Plagher, who reached on an error in the sixth but was thrown out trying to steal second.

“We had an opportunity to do some things,” North Central coach Scott Harmon said. “We wanted to jump ahead and swing at strikes.

“When we did that, we didn’t do that back-to-back-to-back like we needed to.”

Harmon noted that a team goal was to score five runs a game, but it wasn’t to be against a veteran Newport team with 15 seniors on the roster.

“I’m proud of our kids; they played hard,” Harmon said. “Maybe if we played a touch better or executed better.”