Wednesday, May. 20, 2009

Baseball roundup: U-Hi, Moon overshadow Southridge

By Kevin Anthony, Herald staff writer

The Southridge baseball team has weathered its share of inconsistent play over the last month, working through some self-inflicted wounds and still playing at home with a chance to move on to state.

So it was some consolation -- a small bit, perhaps -- that, although the Suns came up on the bad end of a 6-2, eight-inning loss to University on Tuesday, they played maybe their best game of the season.

"That's the funny thing," said senior center fielder Andrew Mendenhall. "That's the best game we played all year, and we lose it. The last four weeks, we just couldn't get in the game the whole time, but we were winning."

The loss ends the season for the senior-laden Suns (19-6), who were hoping to advance to state for the first time since 2006.

U-Hi (21-3), which dominated the Greater Spokane League this season before being knocked off by Lewis & Clark in the district tournament, moves on to the opening round of state Saturday at Richland. The Titans will face Kamiakin (15-10), which downed Lewis & Clark 9-4.

The Braves and Titans play at 1 p.m., following a 10 a.m. contest between Richland (20-2) and Kamiak (15-8). The winners play in the quarterfinals at 4 p.m. for a berth into the final four at Safeco Field the following weekend.

The problem for Southridge on Tuesday was that as well as the Suns played, the Titans -- and more specifically, their pitcher -- just played better.

U-Hi ace Billy Moon lived up to his billing, rolling mostly untouched through eight dominant innings. The Gonzaga-bound lefty struck out seven, walked three and gave up just four hits to a team that hit .402 during the regular season.

"He's been our rock," U-Hi coach Scott Sutherland said of Moon, who improved to 8-0 and was voted the GSL MVP.

But Southridge starter Jay Fox matched Moon pitch for pitch for five innings, striking out eight and giving up just four hits.

Fox's big moment came in the second, when U-Hi got two on with none out. The Suns lefty struck out the Titans' Nos. 6, 7 and 8 hitters to escape the jam.

But those three batters -- who looked anything but threatening whiffing away -- would come back to haunt Southridge.

Jon Rapose and Thomas Wakem walked and singled to start U-Hi's two-run fifth. Then Waken and Tony Tabish hit back-to-back doubles to blow open a four-run eighth.

"They're all first-year varsity players," Sutherland said, "and I told 'em they've got to adjust because if we win, we're going to see more of this (good pitching) down the line."

Meanwhile, Moon was in full bloom, setting down 10 of the last 11 hitters he faced. Mendenhall's two-run triple to tie the game in the bottom of the fifth was the last sign of life for Southridge.

"You have to tip your hat to the kid (Moon)," said Suns coach Tim Sanders. "They made the plays."

For Sanders, it was his last chance to coach a group of 13 seniors, many of whom have been on the varsity for two or three seasons.

"This is a great group of young men," he said, "a classy group of kids that was fun to be around."

University 6, Southridge 2 (8)
University 000 020 04 — 6 9 0
Southridge 000 020 00 — 2 4 0
Billy Moon and Craig Keeton; Jay Fox, Brandon Call (5), Tyler Roberts (5) and Kyle Sani. Highlights—Moon (U) 8IP-4H-8K-3BB; Jacob Olsufka (U) 2x5, 2B, 2 RBI; Keeton (U) 1x4, 2B, R; Thomas Waken (U) 2x4, 2B, 2 RBI, 2R; Tony Tabish (U) 1x3, 2B, R; Fox (SR) 5IP-4H-2ER-8K-1BB; Andrew Mendenhall (SR) 1x4, 3B, 2 RBI; Clayton Homme (SR) 1x2, 2B.

Kamiakin 9, Lewis & Clark 4

SPOKANE -- Dusty Petragallo's two-run single in the fifth broke a 3-all tie, and Kamiakin went on to score two more runs in the inning to pull away from GSL district champion Lewis & Clark (15-9).

Kody Young went the distance for the Braves, battling back after giving up two first-inning runs.

Matt Minnich continued his hot postseason with a double and a triple, and freshman Drew Oord went 3-for-4 with a pair of doubles and three RBIs.

Kamiakin 9, LC 4
Kamiakin 300 041 1 — 9 16 2
Lewis & Clark 201 001 0 — 4 11 4
Kody Young and Dillon Jackson; Reed and Santos. Highlights—Jackson (K) 3x4; Shawn O’Brien (K) 2x5; Devan Willis (K) 2x4; Matt Minnich (K) 2x4, 2B, 3B; Drew Oord (K) 3x4, 2 2B, 3 RBI; Tyler Wolf (K) 2x4.

Kevin Anthony: 509-582-1403; kanthony@tricityherald.com