Tigers outlast Bullpups
Wins have been hard to come by this Greater Spokane League baseball season for a young Lewis and Clark lineup. So the Tigers didn’t mind sticking around awhile longer Tuesday in order to pick up victory No. 2.
Sophomore Donnie Santos walked with two outs and the bases loaded in the 10th inning as resilient LC (2-12) outlasted Gonzaga Prep (8-6) 8-7.
The first two Tigers batters had struck out against Aaron Page in the bottom of the 10th at Hart Field, before a pair of bases-on-balls and Sage Poland’s disciplined at-bat for a single filled the sacks.
Santos, the Tigers’ catcher and one of a batch of sophomores earning its spurs on varsity, watched as four pitches missed the strike zone, ending the 3-hour, 15-minute marathon.
“I was hoping he’d throw a strike so I could get a hit, but this works,” said Santos.
The teams battled back and forth from the start, the Bullpups taking a first-inning lead then falling behind twice by two runs, 3-1 in the third and 5-3 in the fourth.
Prep rallied to go ahead 6-5 in the fifth. LC came right back to knot the score in the bottom of the inning, fell behind 7-6 in the ninth only to tie it on Jordan Kellogg’s base hit, following a bad-hop knock that bounded over second baseman Anthony Via.
Big blows for the Bullpups included a two-run double by Prep’s Alec Albinson in the fourth and two-run single by Connor McClary in the fifth. Albinson also blooped an RBI base hit to score McClary, who had three hits and scored three runs, in the ninth.
LC scratched and clawed for its runs, capitalizing on four Bullpups errors for the first three runs, getting a two-run single by sophomore David McNeill in the fourth, two seeing-eye hits in the fifth and the 10th-inning walks.
Tiger John Goodwin, who pitched in relief, had three hits and scored three runs.
“Give Prep their respect. They 10-ran us Friday,” said LC coach Dexter Davis. “A couple of times they were down two runs, but fought and battled, tied the game then went ahead. And give credit to our eight or nine sophomores on the field. They kept working and we won tonight.”
In other games, first-place Mead (11-1) swept Shadle Park (3-9) 13-3, Glen Reser 4 for 4 and missed the cycle by a home run. He drove in two runs and scored three. Winning pitcher Chris Allen was 2 for 4 with a double and Sean McNaghten was 3 for 3 with three RBIs and two runs scored. … Billy Moon pitched a 2-hitter and struck out 12 in University’s (9-2) 9-0 win over visiting Rogers (6-8). The Titans had 16 hits, including Tyler Olson, who was 3 for 3 with two RBIs. Four others had two hits for U-Hi, including Moon and Jacob Olsufka, who homered in the first. … Mt. Spokane (7-7) edged Central Valley (7-5) 2-1, Nic Fowler outdueling Rusty Shellhorn as each spun four-hitters. Fowler struck out 10 and Shellhorn 14. Jordan Poynor’s base hit following a walk, balk and sacrifice in the sixth drove in the game-winner. … The Ferris at East Valley game was rescheduled for today.
Softball
Central Valley’s McKenzie Gummersal hit for the cycle in order, driving in 10 runs as the visiting Bears (7-3) defeated Ferris (0-11) 22-0 in five innings. Gummersal capped her day with a grand slam in the eight-run final inning. Winning pitcher Alyssa Erickson was 3 for 4. … Host Gonzaga Prep (4-6) scored early and winning pitcher Kelsey Green proved stingy in the Bullpups’ 6-3 win over Mt. Spokane (6-5). Nicole Romasko had two hits and had three RBIs and Sierra Little scored twice for GP. … University (7-3) was led by Alyssa Hawley and Richael Paxson who were both 3 for 4 in a 6-2 win at Lewis and Clark (2-8). Pitcher Mollie Buelow struck out seven. … Kelsie Vallies blanked East Valley (3-5) on two hits as North Central (9-2) won at home 7-0. Vallies struck out 14 and was 2 for 2 with a double, triple and two RBIs. Kasara Wise added a two-run double in the fourth and Lynde Peterson had a two-run single. … Alex Cey was 3 for 3 with a double and drove in three runs during Mead’s (8-3) 11-0, five-inning win at Rogers (2-10). Katie Kine added a two-run home run.