Indians take title

KEIZER, Ore. – In a series where down was up and up was down, it seems fitting that the Spokane Indians won the Northwest League championship against the Salem-Keizer Volcanoes with a stolen base.

A home run, sure. A stellar pitching performance, predictable.

But the Indians came into the season with the league’s lowest stolen base total at 54.

But with catcher Doug Hogan at the plate with two out in the 10th inning and Dennis Guinn on first, Indians manager Tim Hulett Sr. had a hunch. He sent Guinn, and the throw by Volcanoes catcher Trent Kline sailed into center field. That allowed Guinn to advance to third.

And Hogan came through with the game-winning hit, a sharp line drive to left field, to score Guinn and give the Indians a 6-5 win Sunday at Volcanoes Stadium to wrap up a 3-1 series victory.

“I thought, ‘You know what, take a shot here,’ and if he gets picked off I was comfortable with Hogan leading off the next inning,” Hulett said. “And it turned out great. And the bad throw was huge, too. Maybe he doesn’t score on that hit with the outfield playing shallow.”

It’s Spokane’s first league title since 2005, and it ends Salem-Keizer’s reign as two-time Northwest League champion.

And the series had it all – most of which was on the strange side.

In Spokane’s game two, 11-10, 10-inning victory Friday, the teams combined for 30 hits. In Spokane’s 11-10 win Saturday, the Volcanoes tied a team record by issuing 14 walks en route to squandering a 10-2 lead.

“The whole series was strange,” Hulett said. “Tonight nobody could hold onto the lead. It was like a curse to have the lead.”

Guinn started the rally with a one-out walk. Salem-Keizer reliever Ryan Verdugo struck out the next batter, Matt West, to make it two out. And with one strike on Hogan, Guinn took off.

“I didn’t even know he was stealing, and luckily he was able to go to third,” Hogan said. “I knew right there that if I could come up with a hit we would be in a position to win the ballgame. Everyone wants to be in a situation like that, to come through in the clutch. And fortunately I was able to come through.”

Corey Young worked a perfect bottom of the 10th for his 11th save of the season.

“We had a pretty good record against (Salem-Keizer) this season, but we knew they were a good team,” Hogan said. “They’ve won the last two championships. This was a dogfight the whole playoffs.”

First, it was the Volcanoes giving Spokane a taste of its own medicine, only Sunday’s rally wasn’t quite as spectacular.

The Volcanoes comeback was a two-run seventh inning on a RBI single by Kline and a wild pitch with runners on first and third. That erased Spokane’s 4-3 lead.

The problem for the Volcanoes was they didn’t hang onto it.

Leadoff walks by reliever Christopher Wilson in the next inning to Eric Fry and Joey Butler put runners on first and second. They moved up to second and third on a ground ball out, and Fry scored on another ground ball out by Matt West. That tied the game at 5-5.

“I think we had all the answers for them,” Salem-Keizer manager Tom Trebelhorn said. “They came in with the best record and the best pitching. And we handled their pitching and gave them everything they could handle. And we gave them a lot of opportunities. I think we just puzzled ourselves with too many questions.”

The series was a mismatch on paper.

Spokane came in with the league’s best record at 51-25, compared with Salem-Keizer’s 40-36 mark. The Indians also led the league in runs scored, team earned-run average and strikeouts.

“They just won the championship,” said Volcanoes first baseman Mike Loberg, who was 2-for-5 with a run scored. “They answered every call, going back to last night. They had their backs against the wall, down 10-2. There’s no quit in them.”

The star of the postseason for the Indians was designated hitter Fry. In the first three games, he was 5-for-11 with three home runs and eight RBIs. And on Sunday, he came through again with another home run and a 2-for-4 performance.

Spokane picked up where it left off on Saturday.

Four straight singles by Jacob Kaase, David Paisano, Fry and Butler led to two runs in the first inning.

The first inning was a bad omen for the Volcanoes after starting pitcher Mike Loree, the ace of the staff, threw nearly 40 pitches. And Trebelhorn was working with a depleted bullpen after using six pitchers on Saturday.

“Unfortunately for (Loree), I thought that was possibly the poorest command he’s had this season,” Trebelhorn said. “Our problem was last night. We had to go through too many relievers, and we had to rely on too many young kids tonight.”

Loree, who was 4-3 on the season with a 2.44 ERA, lasted only four innings. He gave up eight hits and four runs.

Salem-Keizer got one back in the second inning on Caleb Curry’s RBI groundout.

Fry’s home run in the third inning extended the Spokane lead to 3-1. And a RBI triple by leadoff hitter Jared Bolden in the fourth inning gave the Indians a 4-1 lead.

The Volcanoes kept chipping away, though, and runs in the fourth and fifth innings cut Spokane’s lead to 4-3.

Ryan Schlecht, who allowed the Volcanoes two runs in the seventh inning to take the lead, stranded a runner on third in the eighth. And Juan Peralta pitched a scoreless ninth inning.

“We had fun,” Loberg said. “We won the West Division. It was a good year. But we were in the championship series, so it leaves a bitter taste. But it gives you drive for next year.”