Wednesday, May. 07, 2008

Kamiakin wins spot in regional baseball final

By Kevin Anthony, Herald staff writer

If a baseball game was scored on guts, Kamiakin and Southridge might still be playing at Southridge High.

Instead, the Braves' Jason Jones one-upped Suns starter Jay Fox in Kamiakin's 2-1 win Tuesday in the 3A Eastern Regional semifinals.

"I don't know how you can get any better than that," Suns coach Tim Sanders summed up, a sentiment also held by Kamiakin coach Rex Easley.

Jones threw 6 1/3 innings of two-hit ball before running into control troubles in the seventh. Maxx Garrett came in with the bases loaded and, after hitting one batter, shut the door.

The win secures a second straight trip to the state tournament for Kamiakin after a seven-year absence. The Braves play Kennewick, a 4-2 winner on the road against Mount Spokane, at 4 p.m. Saturday at Roy Johnson Field in the regional final.

Jones said locking up a state berth is nice, but "there's a lot of baseball left. It's a long way to Safeco."

Southridge, which won the CBL 3A regular-season title, plays host to Hanford in a loser-out game, but the time and date have to be determined with the school holding the district track meet Friday.

Fox gutted through a 35-pitch second inning, which started with a double by Garrett down the right-field line and ended with a strikeout of Jones -- Kamiakin's No. 2 hitter with a .407 average -- with the bases loaded to keep the damage to a single run.

The Southridge starter settled down with a six-pitch, 1-2-3 third. Kamiakin's other run came in the fifth on a pair of singles by Jason Gardner and Jones and a balk.

"He did a nice job," Sanders said. "He held his composure."

The Southridge hitters could do little to shake Jones, who allowed only three baserunners heading into the final inning. The only one that got past first came on a dropped flyball.

"Everything was just popping, every pitch -- my changeup, my two-seem -- everything really felt good," Jones said.

The closest he came to trouble before the seventh was in the sixth on the dropped fly. With a runner on second and one out, Southridge had its most dangerous hitters up in Andrew Mendenhall and Fox.

Both were first-pitch swinging -- Mendenhall grounding slowly to short and Fox lining out to second.

"You've got to be ready in those situations to hit your pitch," Sanders said. "I think a couple times we hit his pitch."

Jones had too much linebacker in him to admit getting tired when he walked the bases loaded in the seventh. Garrett came in and struck out the first batter, hit the next to force in a run, then got No. 2 hitter Thomas Henderson to fly out to center.

Kamiakin 010 010 0 -- 2 6 2

Southridge 000 000 1 -- 1 2 1

Jason Jones, Maxx Garrett (7) and Garrett, Dillon Jackson (7); Jay Fox and Devin Jones. Highlights--J. Jones (K) 6 1/3IP-2H-4K-3BB; Garrett (K) 2B, R; Fox (S) 7IP-6H-4K-3BB; Kyle Sani (S) 2x2, BB.

Kennewick 4, Mount Spokane 2

SPOKANE -- Tony Bryant threw five innings of four-hit ball, Dane Westermeyer provided two innings of lights-out relief and Landon Scott's two-run single in the third inning was the difference in Kennewick's regional semifinal win over GSL top seed Mount Spokane.

The Lions locked up their first state berth since 2003.

Kennewick 120 000 1 -- 4 10 1

Mount Spokane 200 000 0 -- 2 5 2

Tony Bryant, Dane Westermeyer (6) and Joe Driver; Nic Fowler, Jeremy Corey (7) and Mike Blankenship. Highlights--Jerek Cunningham (MS) 2x2, 2B; Robbie Mitchell (K) 2x4; Luke Loftus (K) 2x4; RBI; Landon Scott (K) 2x3, 2 RBI; Trux French (K) 2x4; Joe Driver (K) 2B; Dustin Long (K) 2B.

Hanford 6, North Central 1

SPOKANE -- Zane McEachern hit a two-run triple in the top of the fourth inning to back Travis Chalk's one-hitter as Hanford stayed alive in the 3A Eastern Regionals.

The Falcons travel to Southridge for an elimination game at 1 p.m. Friday.

Hanford 111 210 0 -- 6 11 2

North Central 000 100 0 -- 1 1 1

Travis Chalk and Brad Elzie; Murphy, Elbert (4) and Schaefer. Highlights--Kyle Cruzen (H) 3x4, 3B; Nick Betzold (H) 2x3; Elzie (H) 2x3; Zane McEachern (H) 1x3, 3B, 2RBI; Chalk (H) 6K

Moses Lake 4, Pasco 2

MOSES LAKE -- Dylan Signorelli went 2-for-3 with two RBIs as Moses Lake beat Pasco in a CBL 4A tiebreaker at Big Bend CC to capture the No. 2 district seed, a first-round bye and a Friday home game.

Pasco 010 001 0 — 2 9 1

Moses Lake 103 000 x — 4 10 1

Nate Burgess, Anthony Garza (1) and Zach Banks; Troy Stephens, Drew Martin (7) and Jacob Lacelle. Highlights—Banks (P) 2x4; Davenport (P) 2x3; Steven Goulet (P) 2B; Aaron Morice (ML) 2x3; Kyle Hickman (ML) 2x2; Dylan Signorelli (ML) 2x3, 2RBI, 2B, 3B; Lacelle (ML) 1x3, RBI 2B.

Connell 13, Burbank 3

CONNELL -- Anthony Cantu homered and Morgan Heiman drove in three runs as SCAC East top seed Connell beat Columbia (Burbank) in the first round of the district tourney.

The Eagles play host to Warden on Friday in a winner-to-state semifinal.

Columbia (Burbank) 000 12 -- 3 4 3

Connell 355 0x -- 13 12 2

Anthony Cantu, Zach Werlinger (2), Dylan Bertsch (3), Nick Byrd (4) and Dyllon Smith; Morgan Heiman and Wes Jenks. Highlights--Cantu (B) HR; Ethan Ireland (B) 2B; Aaron Dixon (Con) 2x3; Jenks (Con) 2x3; Briar Carlisle (Con) 2x2; Heiman (Con) 2B, 3RBI.

Naches Valley 16, River View 4

NACHES -- Adam Dickinson had a three-run homer for River View, but it wasn't enough as the Panthers fell to West champion Naches Valley in the SCAC district tournament.

River View 030 01 -- 4 5 5

Naches Valley 810 7x -- 16 13 1

Dennin Harding, Brendan Hoch (1), Cody Greenwalt (4), Kyle Gier (4) and Cody Wilson; Lucas Forgey and Brandon Gillespie. Highlights--Adam Dickinson (RV) 3R HR; Ethan Flory (N) 2x4; Tom Wilcox (N) 2x3, 2B; Adam Ranger (N) 3x4.

Kiona-Benton 8, Highland 2

BENTON CITY -- Corey Brundridge scattered five hits and struck out 11, and Arturo Lucatero homered for Kiona-Benton in a first-round SCAC district victory.

Highland 011 000 0 -- 2 5 6

Kiona-Benton 520 001 x -- 8 8 2

Matt Summers and William Packard; Corey Brundridge and Jesse Henderson. Highlights--Summers (H) 2B, 9K; Arturo Lucatero (KB) HR; Brandon Lilly (KB) 2B; Brandon Thornton (KB) 2RBI; Hayden Walsh (KB) 2R 3B; Brundridge (KB) 2x4, 11K.

Warden 7, Goldendale 1

GOLDENDALE -- Arty Reyes scattered four hits and struck out 11 as Warden defeated Goldendale in the first round of the SCAC district tournament.

Warden 100 102 3 -- 7 10 1

Goldendale 001 000 0 -- 1 4 1

Arty Reyes and Robert Pruneda; Nick Dohrman and Cochram. Highlights--Rigo Pruneda (W) 2x3, HR; Drew Jesse (W) 1x4, 2R HR; Paul Martinez (W) 2x3, HR, 4RBI; Reyes (W) 11K.

Pateros 11, Liberty Christian 10

In Richland, Liberty Christian fell behind 11-4 after 5 1/2 innings, and a late rally fell short as the defending 1B state champions were eliminated from the Southeast District tournament.

Pateros 251 201 0 -- 11 13 6

Liberty Christian 103 005 1 -- 10 7 4

Brandton Harvey and Andy Cook; Tyler Ashley, Mike Groth (3) and Greg Dunns. Highlights--Roger Anderson (P) 3x3, 2 2B, 3B; Scott Swezey (P) 3x5; Dunn (LC) 2x4; Groth (LC) 3B. LC finishes 11-10.

Ellensburg 27, Othello 0

Othello 000 000 0 -- 0 2 4

Ellesnsburg (11)17 062 x -- 27 26 1

Suarez, Garza (1), Gomez (4), Fuentes (4) and Valdez; Ethan Sterkel, Dan Stanovich (5), Brenda Storey (7) and Ben Luce, Tyler Schmitt (5), DJ Smith (5). Highlights--Cam Mowry (E) 4x7, 2RBI; Luce (E) 3x4, 9RBI, 4HR; Sterkel (E) 3x4, 3RBI, 2 2B; Taylor Young (E) 3x3, 2B, 3B, 3RBI; Kevin Thompson (E) 2x4, 3RBI; Jeremy Rossow (E) 2x4, 2B; Stanovich (E) 2x2.

Garfield-Palouse 7, Tri-Cities Prep 2

Tri-Cities Prep 011 000 0 -- 2 5 0

Garfield-Palouse 200 311 x -- 7 10 1

Will Hoppes and Troy Redmann; Brock Slocum and Palmer. Highlights--Chase Castona (TCP) 2B; Hoppes (TCP) 2B, RBI; Antonio Ledesma (TCP) 2B, RBI. TCP 5-11 overall.

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