Bombers advance
After winning the District 8 4A title and getting bounced from the state tournament in the first round a year ago, Lewis and Clark coach Dexter Davis said his squad had its eyes on Safeco Field and the final four of the State 4A baseball tournament.
The Tigers (17-9) moved one step closer to that goal Tuesday with a win against Kennewick, but they would go no further. Playing defending state champion Richland, the Tigers fell 10-3, ending their season Saturday at Avista Stadium in Spokane.
“These guys obviously didn’t want to be done today,” Davis said. “It was our goal to go over and play at Safeco. … We’ve gone through so many loser-out games to get ourselves one game above where we were last year. I’m proud of these kids and I’m just sorry there had to be a loser today, and it was us.”
The Bombers, who moved on to the state semifinals with a 9-2 showing against Columbia Basin Big Nine rival Eastmont, scored nine runs in the fifth inning against LC to put an end to not only the Tigers’ season but also the last hope of the Greater Spokane League. In the day’s opening game, Eastmont’s Wildcats drubbed GSL champ Central Valley (19-4) 12-1.
After enduring a nearly 30-minute rain delay in the second inning, LC starter Dean Neilson retook the mound with a runner on second and managed to retire the side. He then took a one-run lead into the bottom of the fifth inning after back-to-back singles from Sage Poland and Donnie Santos produced a pair of runs in the fourth.
At that point, things fell apart for Neilson and the Tigers. A combination of three walks, two errors and some timely hitting by Richland’s Chris Cecil led to a pitching change and, by inning’s end, an eight-run deficit.
“Dean Neilson’s been our workhorse all year and we felt like he gave us our best chance to be successful so we went with him,” Davis said. “He didn’t have his best performance, but he’s been a stud for us all year so we had to give him the ball.”
Richland did not need a big inning against the Wildcats in the state quarterfinal game, scoring no more than three runs in an inning in their victory.
Starting pitcher Mike Dunford scattered eight hits over seven innings, allowing just two runs and striking out four.
Hoping to challenge the Bombers for the ticket to the final four, Eastmont used 12 runs on 10 hits to defeat CV in the opening game of the day.
Facing Bears ace Scott Simon, Eastmont went to work early, scoring nine runs in the first four innings to force a move to the bullpen for CV.
Right fielder Calvin Campbell’s two-run home run started the onslaught for the Wildcats, who also took advantage of four CV errors in the win.
“We knew they were a team that liked to pound the bats, but we had our ace going,” CV coach Barry Poffenroth said. “We’re a team that relies on our pitching and defense, and that was our downfall today.”
According to Poffenroth, the home run from Campbell was not the big blow.
Rather, it was the runs scored in the fourth inning, when two errors led to three runs and the end of the day for Simon on the mound.
“I was expecting a different team to show up here today,” Poppenroth said. “After (Eastmont) jumped ahead, I expected our guys to get some of those back, but we just weren’t very aggressive at the plate today.”