CHS baseball wraps up season in state tournament

The Cheney High baseball team's season came to an end May 20 in Ephrata in the second round of the 2A state playoffs.

After a 10-0 shutout win against District 3's Olympic, the Blackhawks (14-12 overall) were swept 7-0 by Central Washington Athletic Conference's Ellensburg. This was Cheney's third state tournament appearance in four years.

During the Olympic game, Cheney broke out with a 3-0 lead in the second inning and controlled the game from there, forcing the 10-run mercy rule after the sixth.

Of Cheney's 15-hit attack, Cade VanWormer, Koby Holt and Luke Martin had three hits each while Devin Cook and Nick Berman collected two apiece.

First-year head coach Glenn Chamberlain attributed the win to his players' efforts at the plate, as well as them being aggressive when it came to base running, putting the pressure on Olympic's infield to throw and make a few mistakes.

The Blackhawks could not produce the same magic against Ellensburg later that day. The Bulldogs' bullpen of Connor Wing and Xander Orejudos allowed only seven hits from Cheney's bats. Although the Blackhawks had runners on base, Chamberlain said his team could not get the "hits to bring them in."

Dylan Arthur got the win in the Olympic game after he threw a one-hitter while Julian Chabot took the loss against Ellensburg.

This state tournament capped an impressive postseason run for the Blackhawks. Cheney went 6-3 in their first nine regular season games. After their 7-5 win against Cashmere (April 5), the Blackhawks went 1-8 in their next nine contests. Part of those losses stemmed from fielding errors and giving up runs late in the game.

"There were guys who made mistakes (on the field) and they couldn't overcome them," Chamberlain said. "I kept telling the players, 'it comes down to the next pitch, the next play' and as a coaching staff we kept preaching that."

The Blackhawks breathed new life into their season after they swept Pullman in an April 28 doubleheader (5-4, 8-2). Despite coming in as the No. 5 seed, Cheney won three straight playoff games to capture the District 7 title, and then defeated Othello 2-1 to advance to the state tournament.

Chamberlain described Cheney as "a young team," with only five seniors and four juniors and the rest being underclassmen. He credits the younger players for stepping up in their roles throughout the season.

"There were many freshmen and sophomores who did not have the experience of playing in the state tournament and they were going up against guys who are 18 years old," Chamberlain said. "In the next couple of years, we'll have that experience."

Cheney loses five seniors to graduation - Peabody, Riggs, Jeff Fix, Andrew Witt, an All-GNL first-team selection and VanWormer, who was selected for the second team. Chamberlain credits these five for "setting the bar" for the team next season.

The Blackhawks should have a strong core group of returning players next year, including pitchers Arthur, a first-team selection, and Chabot, who made the second team, and five other starters.

Several athletes will turn out for the Summerhawks team, which will play in the American Legion AA baseball program for the first time since 2014. Their first game is May 31 at Central Valley. Other Cheney players will compete on the Spokane Cannon, Expos and Crew teams.

Although the Blackhawks came away with a District 7 title, Chamberlain said his team, who went 4-8 in Great Northern League play, has a lot of work to do before next spring.

"One thing I told the guys after the Ellensburg game was this is not the end of it, this is the beginning of what we want to do," he added.

Al Stover can be reached at al@cheneyfreepress.com.