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Spokane Indians

Spokane Indians notebook: Manager Scott Little not concerned about offense’s inconsistent start

The Spokane Indians Michael Toglia (30) celebrates a home run on opening day against the Eugene Emeralds at Avista Stadium on Tuesday, May 4, 2021.  (Kathy Plonka/The Spokesan-Review)

No teams wants to start 0-2. Spokane Indians manager Scott Little certainly isn’t panicking, but he also doesn’t want to let things go too long.

“Let’s get everybody’s feet wet,” he said after Wednesday’s 8-6 loss to Eugene. “It’d be awesome if everybody could have had a great debut – it hadn’t happened. And obviously, our offense is not clicking on all cylinders.”

Little thinks things are close to clicking.

“We only got six hits (on Wednesday), but dang, we scored six runs,” he said. “We had a chance to break open a couple of innings and we’re just, just short. You know, we did we did some things OK. We’ve got time.”

Nobody thinks about losing back-to-back games midseason. But things get amplified with a zero in the win column.

“I don’t want to lose 20 games in a row, saying, ‘Everything’s gonna be OK.’ We evaluate everything,” Little said.

“It is a second game. We’ve had, in those two games, a few bad innings and those innings have cost us. And we haven’t really started hitting yet. So I’m optimistic.

“I don’t think I’m being like, ‘Oh, you know, rainbows, lollipops,’ and all this other stuff. I really think the best is yet to come. I don’t think we’re where we want to be yet.”

Solid experience

Catcher Willie MacIver is one of a few players on the roster to have played in the College World Series, with the crowds, national TV exposure and all the attention that comes with it.

“I no doubt think whenever you’re playing in those big, high-pressure games, it builds up confidence,” MacIver said. “Whenever you’ve had guys who played in those kind of games and know what it takes to win as a team and how to slow the game down in those situations, it does nothing but help.”

As a catcher, he inherently is looked to be a leader on the team.

“You know, maybe a little bit, just through the relationships we develop,” he said. “I mean, being a catcher you kind of really get to know all the pitchers, as well as all the position players too, so it’s a really unique position and one that I really enjoy.”

The team is still trying to forge an identity, but MacIver knows what he wants to see.

“I’ll tell you what, from our perspective, the way our team sees it, we’re a gritty team. We’re going to take the extra base. We’re going to always be looking for opportunities to score and get the little things done.”

Avista clinic

The Washington State Department of Health is providing a COVID-19 vaccination clinic at Avista Stadium on Tuesday from 3-6 p.m. The Johnson & Johnson/Janssen single-dose vaccine is available to anyone 18 or older. Go to bit.ly/2PZDf3o to register.