Legion: Kennewick, Hanford alive in AAA state

The Kennewick Bandits on Monday got a dose of the blowout medicine they had been spreading around the American Legion AAA state tournament in Centralia, and it came from the host team.

Sobe-Toyota pitcher John Sharkey threw all eight innings and Centralia piled on eight runs in the final three innings as the Bandits were handed an 11-1 loss in the championship bracket.

Kennewick, coming off 14-0 and 10-0 wins in its first two games, faces a familiar foe today with its tournament life on the line. The Bandits square off with the Yakima Valley Pepsi Pak, a 3-0 winner over Bellingham, at 3 p.m. Centralia has a 6 p.m. date with the Hanford Flames, who staved off elimination with a 5-4 win over the Apple Valley Packers from Wenatchee.

The winners play Wednesday at 1 p.m. in the first of two possible championships games. If Hanford hands Centralia its first loss, the host would get a crack at Wednesday’s winner in a second title game.

The Bandits got on the board first Monday, plating a run in the bottom of the first. But Kennewick failed to connect from there as Sharkey worked his way around seven hits and five walks.

Meanwhile, Sobe-Toyota finally got to Bandits starter Gerald Hein in the fourth with a pair of runs, and it was just the beginning of five straight run-scoring innings against a trio of Kennewick hurlers.

Clayton Ayres finished 2-for-3 for the Bandits, and Josh Kutzke slugged a double.

Hanford 5, Apple Valley 4: Jalen DeVine threw seven-plus innings and the Flames scraped together enough offense to back his play in a loser-out game against the Packers from Wenatchee.

Hanford took the lead for good with three runs in the fourth inning, as Sawyer Henry and McKaden Manderbach led off with back-to-back doubles. Jon Miles singled, and he and Manderbach came around on RBI groundouts for a 4-2 lead.

Ryan Colson provided a key hit in the seventh, driving in Isaac Benard for a two-out rally and a three-run lead. The extra runs came in handy in the bottom of the inning when DeVine ran into a little trouble and gave up a pair of runs.

A hit batter and one-out walk ended his day in the eighth, but Bryce Logan came on with two on and one out and stomped on the threat before closing out the ninth.

“They out-hit us, probably out-defensed us,” said Hanford coach Nat Roe. “But they didn’t outscore us.

“We have a way. Nobody really wants to play us this time of year. We’re gonna win. We find a way.”

Benard finished 3-for-4 and Miles 2-for-3 to account for half of Hanford’s hits.

Roe took particular pleasure in the fact that three of the four teams alive — Yakima Valley being the third — are from the Central Washington League.

“We’re pushing aside the also-rans,” he said.

Hanford 100 300 100 — 5 10 3

Apple Valley 200 000 200 — 4 11 0

Jalen DeVine, Bryce Logan (8) and Jon Miles; James, Crone (5) and Cordell. Highlights—Isaac Benard (H) 3x4, 2B; Sawyer Henry (H) 2B; McKaden Manderbach (H) 2B; Miles (H) 2x3.

Centralia 000 214 13 — 11 8 1

Kennewick 100 000 00 — 1 7 3

Sharkey and Stein; Gerald Hein, Connor Morfin (5), Kooper Blair (7) and Dylan Wilbert. Highlights—Clayton Ayres (K) 2x3; Josh Kutzke (K) 2B.

AA state

Yakima Valley 12, Kennewick 7: The Pepsi-Cola Dusters rallied for three runs in the sixth and another in the seventh, but it was just too big a hole to climb out of after the Peppers scored nine runs in the top of the fifth and sixth innings at Whitworth University in Spokane.

Dusters catcher Kaden Enriquez went 2-for-3 with a double and two RBIs, and Cory Schouviller was 2-for-2. But Kennewick was undone by six errors.

The Dusters face a loser-out game at 1 p.m. today against Anacortes.

Yakima Valley 010 054 2 — 12 7 2

Kennewick 101 103 1 — 7 10 6

Tyler Monson, Dietrich (5) and Quincy; Michael Jones, Chase Krumm (5) and Kaden Enriquez. Highlights—Enriquez (K) 2x3, 2B, 2 RBI; Cory Schouviller (K) 2x2.

A state

Kennewick 11, Central Valley 3: Hunter Mulderig doubled twice, drove in three runs and scored three more to lead the Pepsi-Cola Dusters to a rout of the Bears in Mount Vernon.

Jayvee Selda was 3-for-4 with two runs scored and two RBIs, Jethro Questad had a pair of hits and Tyler Lloyd doubled.

Gavin Watters went the distance on the mound, giving up six hits and three walks while striking out four.

Southridge A Bandits 6, Bellingham 4: Jake Harvey tossed a complete-game 3-hitter, hit a triple and drove in three runs to lead the Southridge Bandits to a win over Bellingham at the A state American Legion tournament in Mt. Vernon.

Cavet Christ had four hits for the Bandits, including a two-run single that gave Southridge the lead for good in the fourth inning.

The Bandits will play the Kennewick Dusters at 7 p.m. today. The Bandits are the lone remaining unbeaten team, while the Dusters have one loss.

Bellingham 200 002 0 — 4 3 0

Southridge 000 420 x — 6 7 2

Dylan Harper and Tyler Rasmussen; Jake Harvey and Lane Hailey. Highlights—Harvey 3B, 3 RBIs; Cavet Christ (S) 4x4; Casey Proctor (S) 2x3.

This story was originally published July 28, 2014 at 10:52 PM with the headline "Legion: Kennewick, Hanford alive in AAA state."