By JOHN McCALLUM
Editor
After winning three straight games to post their first winning record since the 2001 season, Cheney's baseball team got win number four for another first – their first playoff win in six years.
The Blackhawks broke a 5-5 tie with visiting Medical Lake with two runs in the bottom of the sixth, and held on for a 7-5 victory in a Great Northern League loser-out playoff contest last Tuesday, May 8.
After the Cards scored two runs in their first at bat, the Hawks rallied with four in the bottom of the inning. With two outs, Justin Walker hit a two-run home run, tying the game, and Anthony Christianson kept things alive the hard way – getting hit by a pitch.
Derek Ybarra reached on a Cards error, and after Blaine Gibson walked to load the bases, Dennis France doubled, driving in Christianson and Ybarra for a 4-2 Cheney lead.
The Hawks added another run in the fourth, but the Cards bats came alive again against starting pitcher Rickey Heuschkel, scoring three runs on five hits to tie the game in the fifth.
One of the hallmarks of the Hawks this year, however, has been the rally, and Tuesday's game was no exception.
Drew Ableman led off in the sixth with a walk, reaching third on a bunt base hit by Matt Wedde coupled with a Medical Lake throwing error.
Ableman eventually scored what proved to be the winning run on a squeeze play, and after Walker was hit by a pitch, Wedde came home to make the score 7-5 on a dropped third strike and throw to first by the Medical Lake catcher.
Cheney was out hit by Medical Lake 14 to 6, but executed head coach Randy Elam's small ball philosophy to perfection, capitalizing on Cardinal miscues, and putting pressure on the defense. Walker got the win, relieving Heuschkel in the fifth to up his record to 3-1.
But whatever momentum the Hawks got from their first playoff win since 2001 didn't last. Cheney traveled to West Valley the following day for a second round, double elimination contest only to lose 11-1 to the top-seeded Eagles, getting out hit 13 to 4.
The Hawks run came in the top of the third when Riley Merrill drilled a single through the hole into left field to score Wedde.
After getting knocked around for three runs in the bottom of the first, starting pitcher John Weisgerber found his groove and pitched well until the third when an error allowed the Eagles lead off runner to reach base.
West Valley scored on an RBI ground out to Walker at first with the bases loaded, and after reloading the bases, Elam brought in Christianson, who got the final out in the inning on four pitches.
But the Hawks pitching staff couldn't find the zone in the fourth as West Valley scored five runs, three on singles, to break open the game and coast to the win.
The Hawks postseason run came to an end with a 6-3 loss to Clarkston, the eventual GNL second-seed to state, last Saturday at Central Valley. The Bantams scored four runs in the bottom of the third for a 4-1 lead before the Hawks rallied in the top of the fourth.
Gibson banged a double to score Christianson, and then raced home himself on France's RBI single to cut the Bantam margin to 4-3. It was as close as the Hawks got as Clarkston scored two runs in the bottom of the fifth, and held on for the win.
Cheney finished its season with an 8-6 mark in the GNL and 12-11 overall. Despite losing their final two games, Elam was happy with his team's performance, saying the Hawks were doing what they wanted to do at the end – playing their best ball.
“They really learned how to win,” he said. “They learned to comeback and win in spectacular fashion.”
The Hawk will lose 10 seniors to graduation, Wedde, Ybarra, Gibson, Weisgerber, Merrill, T.J. Musgrave, Jack Teigen, Jaymis Marburger, Chris Ward and Max Shellabarger.
Elam praised his seniors and team as a whole, noting they achieved many preseason goals, including making the playoffs, and a winning season.
“I can't say enough about our kids effort,” he said. “They worked hard, and they deserved it.”
John McCallum can be reached at jmac@cheneyfreepress.com
Reader Comments(0)