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By PAUL DELANEY
Staff Reporter 

Medical Lake American Legion baseball closes out season

 

Last updated 7/12/2018 at 2:41pm



Thank goodness for rival Cheney when it comes to Medical Lake’s American Legion Post 196 baseball team.

It was a 4-2 win over the independent Summerhawks last Saturday that helped Medical Lake end a six-game losing streak, including an 0–4 finish in the North Central Pod of the Wood Bat Classic.

Against Cheney, after an early 2-2 tie, Medical Lake pushed across the winning and an insurance run with three consecutive singles in the bottom of the fifth. Medical Lake is a perfect 3-0 vs. the Summerhawks.

Joe Griffey was 2 for 3 with a pair of RBIs and a run scored while Pete Richardson was 2 for 3 with two runs scored. Sam Gollehon had a sacrifice to drive in a run. Griffey also pitched a complete game with nine strikeouts while surrendering four hits.

In the completion of a weather delayed game from June 8 that was tied 2-2, Medical Lake fell to Colville 9-4 on July 3. Starting in the bottom of the fifth, Colville scored seven runs, before Medical Lake got an out, to lead 9-2.

“Our guys hit and battled for the last two innings, scoring two,” head coach Austin Sharp wrote in an email.

Also that day Chewelah slugged out a 13-3 win. “We committed seven errors and only had four hits,” Sharp said. Weston Thomas led the team with a two-RBI double in the fifth.

In the Wood Bat Classic, the team opened with a 13-0 no-hit loss to Lewis and Clark, who used ML errors to help them to an eight-run third and a five-run fifth.

Columbia Gorge from The Dalles won 13-5 in the second game on July 5. “Seth Mayer pitched and kept us in the game until the fourth,” Sharp said. The visitors put the game away with a seven-run fourth.

Gollehon was 2 for 3 with a double and run scored. Rory Schuller was also 2 for 3. Mason Hammond had two RBIs, as did Mayer.

“Columbia was our pod winner at 4-0 and had a lot of guys that just smoked the ball,” Sharp said.

Weston Thomas pitched a complete game giving up no earned runs in a 3-0 loss to the Pepsi Diamondjaxx out of Pendleton, Ore. to open play July 6.

“We only had two hits in the ballgame and never advanced anyone into scoring position,” Sharp said. “Our defense came up just short with two very costly errors that led to all three runs.”

The tournament’s final contest was an 11-10 loss to North Central Red of Spokane.

“The boys played hard the entire game, continuously overcoming errors in the field to take a one-run lead going to the seventh,” Sharp said. NC grabbed back the lead in the seventh and then quenched an attempted Medical Lake comeback as they loaded the bases with one out. But a “hard-throwing lefty,” reliever secured the win, Sharp said.

Bennett Soliday pitched well going four innings and giving up just six hits while walking two. “But seven errors allowed NC to stay in the game and come out on top,” Sharp said.

Gollehon was 3 for 4 with two runs scored and an RBI, while Hammond and Schuller each had a pair of RBIs. Nick Thompson was 2 for 4 and Griffey scored twice.

Medical Lake, out of the playoffs with a 4-13 National League record (8–19 overall), closed out the season with a July 10 game against Deer Park and a pair of contests against West Valley on July 11.

Paul Delaney can be reached at pdelaney@cheneyfreepress.com.

 

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