Wednesday, May. 13, 2009

Hanford beats EV in baseball to extend season

By Rene Ferran, Herald staff writer

RICHLAND -- Most of Tuesday's first-round 3A Eastern Regional baseball game at Waits Field played out like a recurring nightmare for Hanford coach Tom DeWitz.

Walks. Errors. Baserunning gaffes. He'd seen it all before this season, only this time, his Falcons trailed 4-3 to East Valley (Spokane) with just six outs potentially left to their season.

That's when Josh Oslund rousted them from their slumber, hitting a go-ahead double to right field in the sixth that kicked off a four-run rally and lifted Hanford to a 7-5 victory.

"I'm feeling a lot better after that bottom of the sixth," DeWitz quipped as his team advanced to a 7:30 p.m. Friday semifinal against GSL top seed Mount Spokane at Shadle Park.

Oslund's flyball got caught up in the 20-mph wind blowing out to right and landed behind right fielder Kyle Primm, who'd just moved to the outfield from first base as part of a pitching change.

Cody Wagner scored on the double, and Marcus Manderbach was awarded home on obstruction after getting caught in a rundown.

Brad Elzie followed with a perfectly placed squeeze bunt that turned into an RBI single. Travis Chalk and Nick Betzsold tacked on singles to push the lead to 7-4.

"We could tell that their pitcher (starter Aaron Awbery) was starting to struggle, so we were taking the first pitch, wanting to make him work," said Oslund, who finished 2-for-4. "We wanted to get on base any way we could, and it worked out for us."

The wind wreaked havoc on both teams -- the Knights (6-15) on defense and the Falcons (13-10) via Chalk's wildness on the mound.

The Hanford ace labored through the first three innings, needing 85 pitches to get nine outs while giving up four runs (only one earned).

"He was struggling to find the strike zone, and there was a time when I was going to get him," DeWitz said. "But Travis said he felt fine and wanted to stay out there, and I'm glad he did. He settled down and threw six great innings."

Chalk indeed blew threw the fourth through sixth innings, needing only 31 pitches to get through them. He left after pulling his hamstring running the bases in the sixth, and Kyle Saueressig allowed the first three batters in the seventh to reach base before getting a pair of strikeouts and a popup to earn the save.

The Falcons came back in the third to score three runs thanks to four EV errors -- including two on what should have been an inning-ending strikeout by Betzsold -- and a wind-aided RBI double by Nick French.

"We commit four errors that inning, and they're right back in the thick of it," said EV coach John Phelan. "We're not used to wind like this, this hard and steady. There were a couple of plays we could have made but didn't, and they took advantage of it."

Hanford 7, EV 5

East Valley 130 000 1 -- 5 7 5

Hanford 003 004 x -- 7 10 1

Aaron Awbery, Ike Falk (6) and Josh Schmidt; Travis Chalk, Kyle Saueressig (7) and Brad Elzie. Highlights--Awbery (EV) 2x3, 2R, 2 RBI, SB; Jake Pugsley (EV) 2x4, 2B, 2 RBI, SB; Chalk (H) 6 IP, 5H, 1ER, 6BB, 11K, 2x4; Josh Oslund (H) 2x4, 2B, RBI; Elzie (H) 2x3, RBI; Nick French (H) 2x4, 2B, RBI.