Wildcats continue to dominate

Alex Schuerman knew he had the makings of a good baseball team.

He knew his 3A Mt. Spokane Wildcats could challenge for the Greater Spokane League championship, too. So it doesn’t surprise him that his team is sitting atop the league with a two-game lead in the loss column with five remaining.

Junior left-handed pitcher Carson Blumenthal threw a four-hitter and received plenty of run support as the visiting Wildcats knocked off the University Titans 8-0 Thursday.

U-Hi coach Scott Sutherland, whose team has won the last two league titles, isn’t surprised either.

“They’re the class of the league right now,” Sutherland said. “They came out and proved it today. They’re solid. They play good defense, they have good pitching and they hit Jon (Rapose, the Titans’ pitcher) hard and they put the ball in play.”

Blumenthal (5-0) helped himself in the first inning with an RBI double. The Wildcats added three runs in the second on a two-run double by Spencer Mallonee and a run-scoring single from Evan Renner.

The Titans (8-5) couldn’t take advantage of an early opportunity. Blumenthal gave up back-to-back walks to start the game, but the runners were stranded.

“He kept us off-balance,” Sutherland said. “We had some chances early and had some other guys on second base, but we just didn’t answer the call when they got guys on base. (Blumenthal) just got tougher as the game went along. A couple of times there I thought we were going to get going. I was very impressed with him.”

Blumenthal got back-to-back strikeouts to end the game, finishing with eight.

“I could have done better,” Blumenthal said. “I got a little down at the beginning of some innings, but I battled through it.”

He impressed his coach.

“Carson just really threw great,” Schuerman said. “He threw lights out. He shut them down every time they had a chance. It was a real gutty performance.”

The Wildcats shut the door with four runs in the seventh. Blumenthal had a two-run single.

“I knew we had a good club and I knew we could be here,” Schuerman said. “We want to be playing our best ball heading into May. Obviously, we control our own destiny. I like our chances.”

U-Hi visits Mt. Spokane today, and the Wildcats have their byes Tuesday and Thursday before concluding with a pair against Lewis and Clark and Central Valley.

•In other GSL games, Kramer Kembel hit a homer and Zach Crane (3-0) picked up the win as the Mead Panthers (11-3) held off the visiting North Central Indians (2-11) 5-4. … Nick Bettinson had 12 strikeouts, scattering seven hits over seven innings, as the Shadle Park Highlanders (5-10) topped the visiting East Valley Knights (3-10) 11-6. Tyler Pfeffer had three doubles and four RBIs for Shadle. … David Machtolf got his second win after a 0-4 start as the Gonzaga Prep Bullpups (3-10) topped the visiting Lewis and Clark Tigers (8-5) 6-3. … The Ferris Saxons (9-6) scored eight runs in the fourth for a 12-0 run-rule shortened win over the visiting Rogers Pirates (2-11). Austin Weber (3-1) threw a two-hitter.

•In the Great Northern League, Ethan Fox hit a three-run home run during a seven-run fourth inning as Clarkston (10-4, 6-4) knocked off host Colville (6-9, 4-6) 9-1 in the opener of a sweep. The Bantams then tallied 18 hits to outlast the Indians 17-15 in the second game.

Softball

Alisha Meade had eight strikeouts and outlasted opposing pitcher Echo Barline, as Mead (12-1) got to Barline for three runs in the top of the 12th to secure a 12-10 GSL victory at North Central (6-6).

In other GSL games, Jordan Schermer had three hits, one run and an RBI and University (11-2) outslugged host Shadle Park (6-6) with 14 hits to win 9-6. Elizabeth Roginski went 4 for 4 with a two-run homer for the Highlanders. … Kendall Pavey allowed one run on six hits and struck out seven and Lewis and Clark (6-7) scored the go-ahead run in the bottom of the sixth to pull out a 2-1 win against visiting Gonzaga Prep (6-7) at Hart Field. … Cassie Wendt went 3 for 5 with a double, two RBIs and a run as Ferris (4-8) scored the first 10 runs, including nine in the second inning, and held on to beat visiting Mt. Spokane (5-8) 13-10. Abby Ricco had six RBIs for the Wildcats. … Tiffany Lucas allowed one run on three hits and struck out 15 as host East Valley (4-9) knocked off Central Valley (5-7) 3-1.

Boys soccer

C.J. Skillingstad hit a sudden-death shootout kick to lift Cheney (11-1, 10-0 Great Northern League) to a 3-2 victory over host Deer Park (6-5, 5-5).

In other GNL matches, Alex Haynes scored the deciding goal after nine shootout attempts didn’t determine a victor, and Medical Lake survived to beat host Clarkston 2-1, outscoring the Bantams 10-9 in the shootout. … Michael Konradi gave West Valley (4-7, 3-7) its first goal in the 27th minute and Kyle Thomen added an insurance goal at the 61-minute mark as the Eagles held off visiting Riverside (1-10, 1-8) 2-1.