Bandits’ win in rematch puts them in playoffs
University and Central Valley players have all State American Legion baseball tournaments covered this weekend.
A remarkable seventh-inning comeback sent the Bandits, including five players from U-Hi, back to the Senior (AAA) State Tournament beginning Saturday in Tacoma.
The Titans and Bears are both in the Junior (AA) and age 16 and under A state tournaments as well, the latter being hosted by University.
The Bandits won their regional opener at Shadle Park last Friday, 8-5 over the Apple Valley Packers from Wenatchee, but lost 7-1 to Longview on Saturday. That set up an evening loser-out rematch against Wenatchee for a state berth and the Bandits found themselves down 8-0 after one-and-a-half innings.
“I said if we win we go to state, if not we don’t,” said coach Steve Hertz, who added things didn’t look good. “I told them if we don’t focus on creating one of the best comebacks they’d ever remember it won’t happen.”
The memory was made.
Starting pitcher and Titan graduate Danny Jordan toughed out the rugged start – nine runs allowed in the first three innings – to pitch five shutout innings.
“I’ve hooked a lot of pitchers in my day, but you try and get him out of the game,” Hertz said of the decision to leave him in. “It was just a remarkable effort on his part.”
All team members provided a gritty effort making important plays, Hertz said, diving into first base – against his principles – to beat out throws and hitting the ball. The score was 9-5 after three innings and Tyler Olson’s three-run homer was the knockout punch in the big seventh of the 15-9 win. Olson finished with four hits, adding a double, in the game and had seven for the tournament.
Billy Moon had four and Jake Olsufka three, all five Titans hitting safely at least once in the game.
The Bandits beat Longview 13-11 and won a coin flip for the championship of the regional when coaches decided to forgo the second game of the double-elimination tourney.
•University’s AA team won the divisional playoff for top seed and Central Valley finished third. The Titans beat the Bears in a best of three South Division playoff and then topped North Division champion Mt. Spokane 17-7 for the title.
The U-Hi-CV series was a virtual dead-heat. The Titans won 10-9, lost 8-6 and rallied from a 6-0 deficit to edge the Bears 8-7 for the South title. Central Valley blanked Gonzaga Prep 6-0 on Dan Hammersley’s two-hitter for the league’s third state berth.
David Landrus and John Schmedding each had three hits in U-Hi’s comeback win and Landrus homered in game one. Ian Craig-Scott had three hits in the win over Mt. Spokane and hit safely in each game for a total of eight. Thomas Wakem also had three hits in the district title win and wound up with seven for four games. Four others had five.
David Borgman led CV’s offense during district with seven hits including a home run. Stephano Pau added six and several others had four or more.
•University, host of the State A tournament, beat CV 1-0 and 4-1 for the South title as both advanced to state. U-Hi had swept Ferris 10-0 and 10-7 and CV ousted Freeman 14-4 and 5-1.
SVGSA champs
One week and 69 softball games later, four champions emerged from the end-of-season Spokane Valley Girls Softball Association tournament.
Dairy Queen in the 16U League, Spokane Transfer in 14U, Marz Mountain in 12U and Summit Electric in 10U earned titles, the latter three finishing unbeaten in tourney play.
Although forced to a second game, Dairy Queen capped an 11-3 season for the 16U title. Second during regular season, the team beat regular season champion Home Run Construction 10-6 in the semifinals with Ashley McCarty striking out 13 and going 3-for-3. Emily Henkel was 3-for-4.
Season third-place finisher Farrell Spray (10-6), which had lost to DQ in its tournament opener, won three straight games, including 8-7 over Home Run Construction to reach the finals and beat Dairy Queen 9-8 in the first championship game. On Saturday, Dairy Queen won 12-8 under portable lights at East Valley in the double-elimination rematch, a game that ended past midnight according to reports.
Other tournaments weren’t as prolonged.
•Spokane Transfer (12-2), part of a three-way regular season 14U League tie, and tourney top seed, outscored Kim Hotstart 19-8, Legends Photography 10-1 and Old Country Buffet (11-4) twice, 9-2 in the semifinals and 15-5 for the title.
Julia Rambo pitched in the latter three wins, combining with Shelby Harbison on a four-hitter; with Hannah Harder to strike out 11 and allow but three hits; then fanning nine in four no-hit innings of the championship. Jordyn Anderson was 3-for-4 against Legends Photography, Christie Tombari 3-for-4 and Hailey Wesselman with a two-run triple against OCB in the semis and Megan Johnson 3-for-4 with a double and triple in the title win.
“The last two years they went 45-4 between SVGSA and the Catholic Parochial League,” coach Dan Harder said via e-mail. “It was a heck of a ride.”
•Tournament stunner came in the 12U tournament where Marz Mountain, just 3-7 and seventh out of 10 teams, won five straight for the championship.
The team opened with a 16-15 win over Victor Lumber, stunned regular season runner-up Dana Graphics 22-14, outscored Arby’s 18-16 and topped Sir Speedy 14-13 to reach the finals.
There had been another early tournament upset when eighth-place Old Country Buffet topped once-beaten regular season champion Baker Construction 20-18. Baker Construction (ending 13-3 overall) then won four straight games to make the finals, but the marathon took its toll. Marz Mountain kept up the offensive fireworks for a 22-12 title triumph.
•Summit Electric (11-3 overall) was fourth place during the regular season, but swept through the 10U League tournament with four straight victories. In the process they beat regular season champion BNSF (9-3-1) 18-8 in the quarterfinals, second place Mega Wash (9-3-2) 20-17 in the semifinals and third-place Sir Speedy (13-4) 15-7 for the championship. Sir Speedy had won five straight games after a tourney-opening loss to gain the finals.