By JOHN McCALLUM
Editor
The Medical Lake baseball team's postseason came to a quick end with a 7-5 loss in an opening round, loser-out Great Northern League contest against Cheney last Tuesday, May 8, on the Hawks' on turf.
The Cardinals turned in a gritty performance, out hitting the Blackhawks 14 to 6 on their home field, rallying once to tie the game late, and almost rallying a second time for a potential lead.
Tyler Owens gave Medical Lake a 2-0 lead in their first at bat with a 2RBI double, scoring Ryan King and Nick Pacheco who had opened the game with back-to-back singles after Hawks starting pitcher Ricky Heuschkel.
Cheney responded with four runs of their own in the bottom of the frame, two on a home run by Justin Walker, and all coming with two outs against Cards starter T.J. Gover.
But after getting rattled around, the sophomore hurler settled down, giving up one more run in the bottom of the fourth.
The Cards mounted their first rally in the fifth, getting a lead off single by Pacheco, who then stole second.
Owens singled him home, and then scored on B.J. Palmer's RBI double to cut Cheney's margin to 5-4. Josh Kissack then singled, moving Palmer to third, and the senior scored on Cody Costello's squeeze bunt to tie the game.
Gover kept the Hawks scoreless until the sixth inning when Cheney scored the eventual winning runs on a squeeze play and a dropped third strike, allowing a runner to score from third.
Medical Lake finished the season at 7-7 in the GNL, 8-13 overall. The Cards lose will lose three seniors to graduation, Kissack, Palmer and King, but should be in good shape next season, returning a good crop of juniors and sophomores that includes all of their starting pitching rotation.
John McCallum can be reached at jmac@cheneyfreepress.com
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