Mt. Spokane outlasts U-Hi in slugfest

Pitching took a holiday Monday afternoon, giving way to the long ball in Mt. Spokane’s 17-11 Greater Spokane League baseball victory at University.

Wildcats starter Paul Smith, who had given up no more than three runs in a game this year, found himself behind 7-3 after two innings.

But with two swings of the bat – in the third and fourth innings – Smith got five of those runs back, hammering two of the Wildcats’ five home runs.

“I don’t think I’ve ever coached in a game where a team’s hit five home runs,” marveled U-Hi coach Scott Sutherland.

His Mt. Spokane counterpart, Alex Schuerman, said, “I think there’s been some years when our team hasn’t hit five in a season. That was a pretty impressive fireworks display.”

Back-to-back home runs by Mark Purser and Jarek Cunningham had put the visitors ahead 3-0 in the first inning.

Smith, however, wasn’t sharp early and dug a four-run hole.

So he cut the deficit to a run with a three-run homer in the third and added a two-run blow during the decisive fourth when the Wildcats took advantage of a two-out error to score seven times.

Once he found his rhythm, Smith hurled three one-hit shutout innings while Mt. Spokane (17-1) built a 14-7 lead.

The Wildcats were dinged up – Purser unable to play the field because of an arm strain and Niko Sotolongo out with an injured knee. But they finished with 17 hits, nine for extra bases.

Purser hit another home run in the fifth, his second two-homer game in four days, tying him at eight for the league lead with Ferris’ Beau Brett.

Cunningham finished a triple shy of the cycle while driving in five runs.

U-Hi (11-7), which kept its top two pitchers on the shelf in anticipation of its regular season-ending series against Rogers, didn’t go away after squandering the early bounty.

The Titans made a game of it with a four-run sixth-inning that featured starting pitcher Jacob Olsufka’s two-run double, his second of the contest. Teammate Billy Moon had three hits and drove in three runs.

Mt. Spokane, however, pulled away by scoring five times in the seventh inning off the Titans’ third hurler.

“Smith had like a 1-point-something ERA,” explained Sutherland of his decision to save pitchers Moon and Danny Jordan for the Pirates. “Billy could have thrown lights and we still lose and we’ve used him up. It’s a better proposition for us.”

League champion Mt. Spokane maintained its five-game lead with the triumph and is gearing up for the Class 3A sub-regional, which it will host.

“Winning (the GSL) is certainly something you can feel proud about,” said Schuerman. “It’s a tough league and only one team gets to do it every year. It’s been a fun year, but we don’t want it to end, that’s for sure.”

•Elsewhere in the GSL, an eight-run seventh inning lifted Mead (12-6) over host East Valley (5-13) 13-7 and ahead of U-Hi into second place in the league. The Panthers had seven singles in the inning to lead in the game for the first time since scoring the game’s initial run. Matt Walsh hit a two-run home run in the third inning and Connor Moore a solo shot in the fifth. Grant Fink went 3 for 4. … North Central (12-8) got four-hit pitching by Ryan Richardson ending its regular season with a 3-2 win over visiting Shadle Park (7-11). Boone Plager was 2 for 2 with a double and triple. The Highlanders runs came on Andrew Rogkinski‘s two-run homer in the fourth inning. … Alex Banderas hit a three-run homer in the second inning and finished 2 for 3 with three runs scored and four RBIs as Central Valley (9-9) beat Lewis and Clark (4-14) 15-1. Trevor Shull pitched a two-hitter and struck out seven. … Rogers (7-11) kept the race for the final four 4A district playoff spots interesting with an 8-5 win over Ferris (9-9). A four-run fifth inning was key for winning pitcher Jacob Partridge, who struck out 11. Scotty Livengood and Jake Campbell each hit two doubles and combined to drive in four runs. Andrew Durant was 2 for 2. … The Pirates, Shadle and Gonzaga Prep are all tied, two games behind the Saxons and Bears.