Wednesday, Apr. 29, 2009

CBBN baseball: Richland sweeps Hanford

By Kevin Anthony, Herald staff writer

RICHLAND -- As a speedy leadoff hitter and a danger on the bases, Jamison Rowe is used to being the straw that stirs the Richland offense.

On a cold and soggy Tuesday afternoon, he was the straw that broke Hanford's back.

Rowe's grand slam was the crushing blow that finished off the staggering Falcons as nine Bombers crossed the plate in the fifth inning of a 12-1 rout in the 10-run-shortened Columbia Basin Big Nine Cascade Division contest.

The Bombers completed the sweep with an 8-3 victory in the nightcap. The game was shortened to 5 1/2 innings after the outfield lights malfunctioned.

"Normally I'd take a couple of pitches and try to draw a walk," said Rowe, who drove in five runs in the opener. "But once I was down two strikes and with the bases loaded, I was just looking for something I could hit deep in the outfield and let someone tag up."

Instead, it was Rowe who did the tagging, and it was a rude greeting for James Landen four pitches into his relief of Kyle Saueressig.

Both Saueressig and Richland starter Stinson Ott were wildly effective -- Saueressig hit seven batters when his big, looping breaking ball failed to ... well ... break, and Ott worked his way around five walks to throw the Bombers' second complete game in three games.

Each limited the opposing batters to two hits through four innings.

"Coach told me just to come out and throw strikes," said Ott, who struck out seven to improve to 4-0. "First-pitch strikes."

And more often than not, Ott got the first one over. It was after that it got a little shaky. His best inning came in the fourth, one frame after Hanford plated its only run on Nick Betzsold's single -- he had both of Hanford's hits -- and after the Bombers came back for two in the bottom of the frame.

Ott came out and set down the Falcons efficiently, getting a pair of strikeouts and grounder to third for an easy 11-pitch inning. He wound up throwing 94 in five innings.

Saueressig was victimized by inconsistent defense as much as the Richland batters.

Leading 3-1 in the fifth, Richland loaded the bases with a pair of hit batters and a misplayed grounder. Then Hanford missed out on a sure-fire forceout at home when Betzsold slipped on the wet grass.

Saueressig hit one more batter to force in another run, and then Landen came on and Rowe came up. Three batters later, Cody Shepherd ripped a two-run double to the gap for the final runs.

After seeing his Falcons get 10-runned while only giving up five hits, coach Tom DeWitz could hardly believe this is the same team that knocked off Southridge just a week ago.

"We're either good or bad," he said. "There's nothing in between."

Hanford 001 00 -- 1 2 3

Richland 002 19 -- 12 5 0

Kyle Saueressig, James Landen (5) and Brad Elzie, Chance Beebe (5); Stinson Ott and Josh Rapacz. Highlights--Nick Betzsold (H) 2x2, RBI; Ott (R) 5IP-2H-7K-5BB; Jamison Rowe (R) 2x4, HR, 5 RBI; Cody Shepherd (R) 2x4, 2B, 2 RBI.

Hanford 200 100 -- 3 5 2

Richland 031 22x -- 8 6 1

Travis Chalk, Dan Scheibe (4), Dan French (6) and Elzie, Beebe (4); Shepherd, Kyle Stumetz (6) and Josh Rapacz. Highlights--French (H) 2B; Rowe (R) 2x4, 2B; Chris Cecil (R) 2x2, 2 2B, RBI.

Moses Lake 7-8, Kennewick 3-11

KENNEWICK -- Drew Loftus had four RBIs and Michael Gordon hit a home run as Kennewick (10-6) avenged a Game 1 loss to Moses Lake to split a Columbia Basin Big Nine Columbia Division twinbill at Roy Johnson Field.

The split left the Lions in third place in the division standings, two games behind leader Southridge, which they will host Friday afternoon.

Moses Lake 020 000 04 -- 7 7 3

Kennewick 000 120 00 -- 3 5 1

Hybbert, Signorelli (8) and Harris; Dakota Tripp, Frank Murrillo (8) and Tyler Morfin. Highlights--Kyle Hickman (ML) HR, 2 RBI; Alvarado (ML) 2x3; Trek Stemp (K) 2x4; Trux French (K) 2x4, 2B, HR, 2 RBI; Tripp (K) 2x4, 2B.

Moses Lake 120 000 5 -- 8 10 3

Kennewick 210 152 x -- 11 9 0

Meyers, Ku. Hickman (4), Samuels (5), Jackson (5), Johnson (6) and Harris; Dirk Westermeyer, Blake Eastman (7) and Morfin. Highlights--Kurt Hickman (ML) 3x5; Signorelli (ML) GS; Harris (ML) 2x3, 2B; Drew Loftus (K) 2x5, 2B, 4 RBI; Stemp (K) 2B; French (K) 2B; Michael Gordon (K) 2x4, HR, 2 RBI; Morfin (K) 2x4, 2B.

Davis 3-7, Pasco 1-3

PASCO -- Gordo Martinez went 3-for-3 with a double and two RBIs in Game 2, but it wasn't enough as Pasco (4-12) was swept at home by Davis in Columbia Basin Big Nine Columbia action.

The Bulldogs fell into a tie for fifth place with idle Wenatchee and likely will need to sweep the Panthers on Friday to have any chance of grabbing one of the division's four playoff berths.

Davis 000 101 1 -- 3 8 0

Pasco 100 000 0 -- 1 5 3

Michael Calderon and Josh Whiteelk; Anthony Garza, Derek Briggs (7) and Rick Davenport. Highlights--Marcus McCluren (D) 3x4; Whiteelk (D) 2x3, 2B.

Davis 011 50 -- 7 5 1

Pasco 010 02 -- 3 8 1

Called because of darkness. Walton, Markes (5) and Alexander; Luc Graff, Daniel Weiss (3), Briggs (5) and Davenport. Highlights--Roddy (D) 2x3, 2B; Alexander (D) 2B; Gordo Martinez (P) 3x3, 2 RBI, 2B.

Southridge 21-13, Sunnyside 2-1

SUNNYSIDE -- Brennan Borlaug led Southridge's 28-hit attack by going 4-for-7 with two doubles and six RBIs on the day as the Suns rolled past Sunnyside in Columbia Basin Big Nine Columbia Division play.

Southridge 420 87 -- 21 15 1

Sunnyside 000 02 -- 2 3 1

Brandon Call, Erik Baker (4) and Kyle Sani; Pickel, Sarmiento (4), Palomarez (5) and Rodriguez, Rivera (4). Highlights--Andrew Mendenhall (Sou) 2x3, 2B, 4R, 3 RBI; Brennan Borlaug (Sou) 2x4, 2 2B, 4 RBI; Tyler Roberts (Sou) 2x2, 3B, 4R; Clayton Homme (Sou) 2x2, grand slam in 5th, 6 RBI; Jay Fox (Sou) 2x5, 2B; Sani (Sou) 2B; Spencer O'Neil (Sou) 2x3.

Southridge 067 00 -- 13 13 2

Sunnyside 001 00 -- 1 3 1

J.Fox, Homme (3), Roberts (4), O'Neil (5) and Devin Jones; Abbott, Palomarez (2), Sarmiento (3) and Rodriguez. Highlights--Mendenhall (Sou) 2x3, 2B; Borlaug (Sou) 2x3, 2 RBI; Roberts (Sou) 3x4, 3B; O'Neil (Sou) 2x3, 2B; Cody McCary (Sou) 2B, 2R; Bracken Sorensen (Sou) 2 RBI. Sou 14-2 overall.

Ike 9-9, Wa-Hi 8-5

Walla Walla 400 003 1 -- 8 8 1

Eisenhower 211 500 x -- 9 10 1

Ryan James, Drew Christina (6) and Zach Meyer; Tyler Berman and Seth Kline. Highlights--James (WW) 3R HR; Berman (E) 3x4; Kline (E) 2x4, HR; Scott (E) 3x4, HR; Lombardi (E) HR; Arcand (E) HR

Walla Walla 100 202 0 -- 5 6 0

Eisenhower 001 053 x -- 9 9 0

Matt Watson, Christina (5), Justin Mathews (6) and Alex Jordan; Royball, Lombardi (5), Scott (6) and Kline. Highlights--Mathews (WW) 2x2; Sam Alazar (WW) 2R HR; Palachuk (E) 3x3, 3R.