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By PAUL DELANEY
Staff Reporter 

Cannons bounced at state in quirky tiebreaker

American Legion officials tweaking of rules leaves team angry, confused

 

Last updated 7/28/2016 at 1:56pm

Paul Delaney

Cannons' head coach Chad Ripke wants straight answers from American Legion Baseball.

The Spokane Cannons are still wondering what hit them at the Washington State American Legion state tournament in Selah.

Strong pitching from their two best arms led the team to what they thought was going to be the final rounds of play that began July 26 at Parker Field in Yakima.

But a tiebreaker that had to go to two levels, and apparently favored the Spokane AAA American Legion league champs, suddenly had a rule that allowed Centralia to leapfrog over them.

"The most frustrating part about it is our kids earned it on the field," head coach Chad Ripke said. "Basically what I was told going into that last game dictated how I did my lineup, did my subbing, feeling that we were in a very safe situation."

After finishing 2-1, and also tied with Bellingham, the head-to-head meeting still left the teams tied with only two advancing. The runs allowed versus defensive innings played tiebreaker - the second deciding factor - would have sent Bellingham and Spokane on. But Cannons' team officials contend an added head-to-head rule was enforced to move Centralia into the next round.

Ripke was told one story before their contest with Centralia by the Yakima Commissioner, and then a totally different version after, with the official not remembering the original conversation.

The whole matter was thought to have been under protest with various levels of American Legion Baseball, but any outcome would be moot considering Spokane opted not to spend another $1,000 - on top of a similar amount Monday night - and return home.

The Cannons, who feature Cheney players Chance Gleave and Riley Jones, plus Medical Lake's Brayden Hale and Cory Wagner, went 2-1 in pool play in Selah, Wash. following victories over Bellingham Post 7, 4-2, or July 23 and Hanford, 2-1, July 23. They lost to Centralia, 4-2, July 24.

In their opener versus the perennial state qualifiers from Bellingham, Wagner pitched seven innings, gave up just three hits. Hale came on in relief to help end Bellingham's 12-game winning streak.

In the second game versus Hanford, Freeman's McCabe Cottrell got the runs he needed from Wagner and Jared Smith for a Cannon team that was limited to just four hits itself. Cottrell had a shutout through seven innings and pitched a complete game.

Having qualified for the next round, the Cannons rested players in their loss to Centralia. Gleave and Hale each had a hit in the contest where they led 1-0 after one, but did not score again until the eighth.

Paul Delaney can be reached at pdelaneyatcheneyfreepress.com.

 

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