Bandits dominate at state

The Kennewick Bandits are making it look easy at the AAA American Legion baseball tournament at Wheeler Field in Centralia.

Not only have they averaged 12 runs and over 16 hits a game in their first two matchups, they also have yet to allow a single run.

The Bandits topped Bellingham Post 7 10-0 on Sunday to advance to the championship semifinals.

As good as Kennewick’s offense has been, the pitching has been virtually untouchable. Mark Driver was masterful in allowing just two hits and no walks for a complete-game victory. On Saturday, Clayton Ayers and Nate Newbry combined for a seven-inning shutout.

But the offense was certainly good once again. Newbry and Larry DeWitt each went 4-for-4 with two RBIs, and Dillon Plew was 3-for-4 with three runs scored. Quentin LaFontaine racked up his fifth hit over the last two days, going 2-for-4 with a run and an RBI.

Kennewick (27-5) will play Centralia at 6 p.m. today.

Meanwhile, Hanford was the victim of an outstanding performance by Centralia pitcher Brady Calkins, who struck out six in a complete-game win but also helped himself with a pair of doubles and two RBIs in a 7-4 win.

Brady Heid had a strong day at the plate for Hanford, going 3-for-5 with a double and a run scored, and Tanner Heiman drove in two runs.

The Flames, last year’s state champions, can still defend their title going through the consolation bracket but it will be a tougher road.

Hanford (20-13) will play the Apple Valley Packers, whom the Flames swept in four regular season games this year, at 3 p.m. today.

Bellingham Post 7 000 000 0 — 0 2 0

Kennewick 021 103 3 — 10 17 1

One out when 10-run rule invoked. Chad Richter, Noah Rawls (7) and Wright; Mark Driver and Dylan Wilbert. Highlights—Kennewick: Steven Sordahl 2 RBI; Wilbert 2B, R; Clayton Ayers 2x4, 2R; Dillon Plew 3x4, 3R, RBI; Quentin LaFontaine 2x4, R, RBI; Nate Newbry 4x4, 2R, 2 RBI, SB; Larry DeWitt 4x4, 2 RBI, SB; Driver CG, 1K, 0 BB.

Hanford 000 000 0 — 4 7 0

Centralia 000 000 0 — 7 12 2

Sawyer Henry, Taylor Lindquist (7) and Jalen DeVine; Brady Calkins and Keylen Stein. Highlights—Hanford: Brady Heid 3x5, 2B, R; Isaac Benard 2B, R; Tanner Heiman 2 RBI; Mitch Godwin SB; Centralia: Calkins CG, 6 Ks, 2 BB, 3x5, 2 2B, R, 2 RBI; Zach Chamberlain 3x5, 2R, 2 RBI, SB; T.Houdsen 2x5, R; Stein 2x4, 2 2B, RBI.

State Legion AAA scores, schedule

Wheeler Field, Centralia

Saturday — Game 1: Kennewick Bandits 14, Mason 0; Game 2: Hanford Flames 10, Spokane Bandits 6; Game 3: Bellingham Post 7 7, Apple Valley Packers 6 (11 innings); Game 4, Centralia Sobe-Toyota 4, Yakima Valley Pepsi Pak 1.

Sunday — Game 5: Apple Valley Packers 8, Mason 6; Game 6: Yakima Valley Pepsi Pak 8, Spokane Bandits 6; Game 7: Kennewick Bandits 10, Bellingham Post 7 0; Game 8: Centralia Sobe-Toyota 7, Hanford Flames 4.

Monday — Game 9: Bellingham Post 7 vs. Yakima Valley Pepsi Pak, noon; Game 10: Hanford Flames vs. Apple Valley Packers, 3 p.m.; Game 11: Kennewick Bandits vs. Centralia Sobe-Toyota, 6 p.m.

Tuesday — Game 12: Loser Game 11 vs. Winner Game 9 or 10, 3 p.m.; Game 13: Winner Game 11 vs. Winner Game 9 or 10, 6 p.m.

Wednesday — Game 14: Winner Game 13 vs. Winner Game 12, 1 p.m.; Game 15 (if neccessary): Winner Game 14 vs. Loser Game 14 (if first loss)

AA Legion State tournament: The Kennewick Dusters called on the right man to advance their hopes of a Junior Legion state title.

Cory Schouviller struck out five and walked just two in a 1-0 complete game shutout of Mt. Spokane. Schouviller, who earned the regional win that sent the Dusters to state, got into a bit of trouble in the seventh after walking the leadoff runner and then throwing a wild pitch to put him on third.

But Schouviller got the last out to keep Kennewick undefeated.

The Dusters got their only run on an RBI single by Kaden Enriquez with two outs in the top of the sixth inning, driving in Mikey Jones.

Kennewick will play the Yakima Valley Peppers at 5:30 p.m.

The Southridge Bandits were eliminated after a 3-1 loss to Mt. Vernon. Bubba Valdez went the distance for Mt. Vernon despite allowing six hits and six walks. Trenton Nett did a fine job on the mound for Southridge, too, scattering five hits over six innings.

Maguire Gibson did most of the damage for Mt. Vernon, going 2-for-3 with an RBI and a run scored. Unfortunately, Southridge couldn’t take advantage of run-scoring opportunities.

“We had guys in scoring position all day, but we hit into three double plays and struck out seven times on the day,” Bandits coach Tim Sanders said. “I thought it was a good season. We played a lot of baseball, but at the end of the season we didn’t play our best baseball.”

Southridge 100 000 0 — 1 6 0

Mt. Vernon 012 000 x — 3 5 0

Trenton Nett and Jake Kirchoff; Bubba Valdez and Goodman. Highlights—Southridge: Nett CG, 4 Ks, 2 BB; Kyle Harvey 2x4, R; Matt Oldham RBI; Bryce Grigg SB. Mt. Vernon: Maguire Gibson 2x3, 2B, R, RBI; Lindell R; Sokol R; Valdez CG, 7 Ks, 6 BBs.

Kennewick 000 001 0 — 1 6 1

Mt. Spokane 000 000 0 — 0 2 2

Cory Schouviller and Brandon Searls; Braden Mau and McDonald. Highlights—Kennewick: Schouviller CG, 5 Ks, 2 BBs; Cory Dearing 2x4; Kaden Enriquez 2x3, RBI; Mikey Jones 2B, R. Mt. Spokane: Parada SB; Mau CG, 4 Ks, 0 BBs.

State Legion AA scores, schedule

Spokane

A.K. Jackson Bracket

Saturday — Game 1A: Asotin 7, Eastlake 4; Game 2A: Centralia 8, Round Table 2; Game 3A: Chehalis 5, Southridge Bandits 2; Game 4A: Gonzaga Prep 7, Mt. Vernon 3.

Sunday — Game 5A: Eastlake 13, Round Table 4; Game 6A: Mt. Vernon 3, Southridge Bandits 1; Game 7A: Centralia 8, Asotin 0; Game 8A: Chehalis 10, Gonzaga Prep 2.

Monday — Game 9A: Asotin vs. Southridge Bandits, 1 p.m.; Game 10A: Gonzaga Prep vs. Eastlake, 4 p.m.; Game 11A: Centralia vs. Chehalis, 7 p.m.

Tuesday — Game 12A: Loser Game 11A vs. Winner Game 9A or 10A, 4 p.m.; Game 13A: Winner Game 11A vs. Winner Game 9A or 10A, 7 p.m.

Wednesday — Game 14A: Winner Game 12A vs. Winner Game 13A, 4 p.m.; Game 15A: Winner Game 14A vs. Loser Game 14A (if first loss), 30 minuetes after Game 14A.

Whitworth University Bracket

Saturday — Game 1B: Yakima Valley Peppers 9, Montesano 1.; Game 2B: Anacortes 4, Mead 3; Game 3B: Kennewick Dusters 14, Capital 3; Game 4B: Mt. Spokane 12, FM Sports 11.

Sunday — Game 5B: Montesano 6, Mead 2; Game 6B: Capital 3, FM Sports 2; Game 7B: Yakima Valley Peppers 8, Anacortes 3; Game 8B: Kennewick Dusters 1, Mt. Spokane 0.

Monday — Game 9B: Anacortes vs. Capital, 11:30 a.m.; Game 10B: Mt. Spokane vs. Montesano, 2:30 p.m.; Game 11B: Yakima Valley Peppers vs. Kennewick Dusters, 5:30 p.m.

Tuesday — Game 12B: Loser Game 11B vs. Winner Game 9B or 10B, 1 p.m.; Game 13B: Winner Game 11B vs. Winner Game 9B or 10B, 4 p.m.

Wednesday — Game 14B: Winner Game 12B vs. Winner Game 13B, 1 p.m.; Game 15B: Winner Game 14B vs. Loser Game 14B (if first loss), 30 minuetes after Game 14B.

A Legion State tournament: The Southridge Bandits stayed alive with a dramatic 5-4 comeback win over FM Sports at Sherman Anderson Park in Mount Vernon as Lane Hailey singled home Casey Proctor with no outs in the bottom of the seventh to plate the last of five unanswered runs by Southridge.

FM Sports scored three runs in the first and got another in the top of the fourth to take a 4-0 lead.

“(Grant) Martson battled through a rough first inning, a combination of fielding and him settling in,” Southridge coach Forrest Rice said. “After that, he pitched a masterful outing.”

Martson allowed just one run over the final six frames while his teammates caught up on the offensive side. The Bandits scored one in the fourth and three more in the bottom of the fifth — two of them on a double by Jake Harvey.

“There’s a lot of heart on this team. A lot of fight. We never give up,” Rice said. “We preach to them to play one pitch at a time, and when the runs come, they’ll come in bunches.”

Southridge will face Bellingham Post 7 winner at 7 p.m. today.

The Kennewick Pepsi-Cola Dusters lost to Bellingham Post 7 by a score of 6-1 despite seven strong innings from pitcher Hunter Mulderig, who allowed just three hits.

Mulderig was opposed by Bellingham pitcher Felix Zavisubin, who gave up one run on three hits.

The Dusters will face Central Valley at 4:30 p.m. today in an elimination game.

FM Sports 300 100 0 — 4 5 0

Southridge 000 130 1 — 5 11 1

No outs when winning run scored. Ben Lait and Ryan Shaw; Grant Martson and Lane Hailey. Highlights—FM Sports: Lait 2x3, R; Shaw 2B, RBI. Southridge: Jake Harvey 3x3, 2B, 2R, 2 RBI; Hailey 3x4, RBI; Casey Proctor 3x3, R.

Bellingham 000 024 0 — 6 3 0

Kennewick 000 000 1 — 1 4 2

Felix Zavisubin and Willie Webber; Hunter Mulderig and Jayvee Selda. Highlights—Bellingham: Will Nickelson 2x3, RBI; Dylan Harper RBI, Cameron Tipton R, SB; Ben Wolters R, SB. Kennewick: Selda R; Jethro Questad SB.

State Legion A scores, schedule

Sherman Anderson Park, Mount Vernon

Saturday — Game 1: Southridge Bandits 9, Central Valley Bears 3; Game 2: Kennewick Pepsi Cola Dusters 10, Aberdeen Swamp Hawks 0.; Game 3: FM Sports 4, North Kitsap Vikings 2; Game 4: Bellingham Post 7 9, Prairie Cardinals 4.

Sunday — Game 5: Central Valley 11, North Kitsap 10; Game 6: Prairie Cardinals 8, Aberdeen 3; Game 7: Southridge Bandits 5, FM Sports 4; Game 8: Bellingham Post 7 6, Kennewick Pepsi Cola Dusters 1.

Monday — Game 9: FM Sports vs. Prairie Cardinals, 2 p.m.; Game 10: Kennewick Pepsi-Cola Dusters vs. Central Valley, 4:30 p.m.; Game 11: Southridge Bandits vs. Bellingham Post 7, 7 p.m.

Tuesday — Game 12: Loser Game 11 vs. Winner Game 9 or 10, 4:30 p.m.; Game 13: Winner Game 11 vs. Winner Game 9 or 10, 7 p.m.

Wednesday — Game 14: Winner Game 13 vs. Winner Game 12, 5 p.m.; Game 15 (if neccessary): Winner Game 14 vs. Loser Game 14 (if first loss), TBA.

Babe Ruth 15s: Richland and Kennewick both went 1-4 in pool play at the Babe Ruth 15s state tournament in Chehalis, both falling short of a shot at advancing to the Pacific Northwest regional tournament beginning Aug. 5 in Baker City, Ore.

Richland lost to Camas/Washougal 15-3 on Saturday, but Kennewick finished with a bang, stinging Willapa Harbor 17-4 for its first win of the tournament.

Twin Cities went on to win the state championship Sunday, beating KWRL 11-3. Both teams advanced to the PNW regional.

Cal Ripken 10s: Simeon Howard struck out 12 batters in a complete-game effort, but he didn’t get much run support as Kennewick American fell 3-1 to East Boise in the semifinals of the Cal Ripken 10s Pacific Northwest Regional in Lewistown, Mont.

KA bounced back with a 15-4 win over Willamette Valley in the third-place game, as Myles Mayozsky went 4-for-4 with a double and a home run.

This story was originally published July 27, 2014 at 11:12 PM with the headline "Bandits dominate at state."