Friday, Sep. 11, 2009

Dust Devils fall short in series

By Jack Millikin, Herald staff writer

KEIZER, Ore. -- Pitching and defense is supposed to win championships. The Tri-City Dust Devils certainly got enough of those two elements to win the Northwest League title against Salem-Keizer.

But they failed to add a key third element to the mix -- offense.

S-K won the NWL title Thursday at Volcanoes Stadium, topping Tri-City 2-1 in 13 innings in Game 4 to capture the series 3-1. The Volcanoes held the Dust Devils to just three runs on 20 hits over four games to collect their fifth championship since 1997.

Ryan Lollis drilled a one-out single with the bases loaded off Tri-City closer Charlie Ruiz in the bottom of the 13th, driving in Dan Cook with the winning run. Ruiz, a NWL all-star, came in after S-K loaded the bases on Rod Scurry and struck out the first batter he faced, Chris Dominguez.

But Lollis worked the count to 3-1 and jumped on the pitch he wanted.

"It was heart-pounding. I definitely felt I set myself up (with the strikeout)," Ruiz said. "As much as it was the worst feeling you could possibly have, I don't have any regrets. I left it all out on the field."

Tri-City (48-32) could not convert several opportunities to add more runs in the late innings, including a leadoff double in the ninth by Ben Paulsen and another by Joseph Scott in the 13th. But Salem-Keizer (52-28) got it done with its own pitching and defense, as four pitchers combined to strike out 17 Dust Devils batters.

"We had a chance to score, but they made some great plays," said Dust Devils manager Fred Ocasio. "You've got to give the other guys credit. They obviously beat us, but they were good games. It wasn't like they destroyed us."

S-K leftfielder Cook made two strong throws to beat runners at the plate, gunning down Paulsen trying to score from second to end the first inning. He did it again in the 13th inning, this time throwing out Scott to prevent the potential go-ahead run.

"If they go ahead 2-0 in the first, that changes a lot," said Volcanoes manager Tom Trebelhorn.

The Dust Devils got some defense of their own. When Luke Anders drilled a 3-1 fastball from Paul Bargas deep to right-center to lead off the 11th, Tim Wheeler ran to the warning track and made a leaping catch.

"I was playing deep to begin with to anticipate any balls hit to the gap," Wheeler said.

Tri-City starter Rob Scahill made his team's 1-0 lead after a first-inning RBI single from Kent Matthes hold up, keeping the Volcanoes scoreless through six innings.

Salem-Keizer got one back in bottom of the seventh after Tri-City reliever Craig Bennigson came inside on Ryan Cavan on a 1-2 count, hitting him to put the tying run aboard. Cavan advanced to third on Evan Crawford's double down the right-field line.

Then Trebelhorn gambled on a squeeze play, sending Cavan down the line on a bunt by Aaron Lowenstein. Bennigson fielded the ball just in front of the mound, but with no time to catch Cavan, threw to first for the out.

"You've got to have a little kid in you to play this game," Trebelhorn said, the former Tri-City Posse skipper who picked up the second title of his managerial career. The other was with the Vancouver Canadians of the Pacific Coast League in 1985.

"This was a great collection of players from all over the country and from different socio-economic levels," Trebelhorn said. "I don't know if we overachieved, but they certainly exceeded my expectations."

Gary Moran picked up the win for the Volcanoes, tossing two scoreless innings.