By PAUL DELANEY
Staff Reporter
Medical Lake got another stellar performance on the mound from Adam Paulson who pitched a 2-hit complete game shutout as the Cardinals' AA American Legion baseball team beat Cheney 2-0 last Tuesday on the road.
The thrill of that victory was quelled somewhat when Medical Lake fell at home the following night 7-4 in a non-league contest to Riverside and took a 5-3 (5-4 overall) ALB West record into home games this week against Asotin County this past Tuesday and North Central last night. ML is also at home on Monday versus West Valley with the doubleheader under the lights getting underway at 5:30 p.m.
Paulson's pitching gem was his second in just four days . The junior-to-be tossed a 19 strikeout 2-hitter on June 10 against East Valley as the Cards recorded a 9-0 win.
“Adam's been the heart and soul of our team,” Cardinals' coach Kerry Kelly said. “He's really stepped up and he's doing it against the best teams too; Cheney's a great ball club.”
Jeremy Alderman wasn't too bad in his own right for the Summer Hawks as he surrendered just four hits, eight strikeouts and no earned runs in six innings.
Both of Medical Lake's runs ultimately came as a result of spotty fielding from Cheney.
Chase Talley singled to lead off the top of the second for Medical Lake, stole second and scored when a throw to the infield after a fly out went out of play.
The game stayed that way until the Cardinals scratched out a key insurance run in their half of the seventh off of reliever Jacob Overhoff. Leadoff batter Devon Poulson walked and reached second on a passed ball. He would score when Zeb Klemke hit a ball to shortstop Alderman and the throw was wide of first. “Zeb's really been a spark plug for us,” Kelly said.
Paulson would shut down the Summer Hawks in their final at bat. With one out, Drew Henry reached on an error, stole second but was left stranded in scoring position when Dakota Torkelson struck out swinging and Spenser Rassier grounded out.
Cheney had three other innings where they had runners in scoring position but Paulson got out of each situation.
In the bottom of the first, Alderman reached on an error, got to second when Henry was hit by a pitch but was stranded when Paulson got the last three Hawks' batters on strikeouts.
Henry reached base when he was hit by a pitch and Torkelson singled. Henry got as far as third on a wild pitch but was left there when Austin Harding stuck out and Josh Maio stuck out.
Brandon Ware got on board with a double with one out in the bottom of the third but Brandon Davenport struck out and Alderman flied out.
The loss to Riverside on a soggy night snapped a five game winning streak. The Cardinals rallied from a 2-0 deficit to lead 3-2 after their first at bat. Klemke singled and scored on a double by Andrew Schafer. Talley's single scored Schafer for a 2-2 game. Then Talley would steal second and came home on back-to-back Riverside balks.
After Riverside tied the game 3-3 with a run in their half of the second, Taylor Dormaier opened the bottom of the second with a walk and stole second before scoring on a Kasey Kelly single to put Medical Lake up 4-3.
But that was it for the Cards
Riverside used a one-out double and a hit batter, a gutsy play to steal home and an error to score twice for a 6-4 lead serving up trouble – and the loss - for relief pitcher Roman Kissack. Medical Lake would load the bases with one out in their half of the fifth but that's where they stayed.
Kelly said he was trying to use the Riverside game to get new players into the line-up. “We just couldn't close the door on them,” Kelly said. “We just didn't make the routine plays and we're not good enough to do that and win.”
Paul Delaney can be reached at [email protected].
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