The Cheney High baseball team kicked off its season March 14 in Sunnyside with wins over the Grizzlies, 6-5, and the Prosser Mustangs, 9-5.
During the game against Prosser, Chance Gleave hit a 2-RBI double to get the Blackhawks on the board in the first inning. The Mustangs answered with three runs in the bottom of the first.
Cheney jumped ahead 6-3 after scoring four runs in the second, including a 2-RBI single from Cameron Wiseman and an RBI double from Kyle Jones. Cheney scored three runs in the top of the fifth on a 2-RBI double from Gleave and an RBI from Wiseman. The Blackhawks limited the Mustangs’ comeback to only two runs in the bottom of the fifth.
Jones and Connor Pratt shared pitching duties, throwing a combined four-hitter.
In the game against Sunnyside, Cheney was down 4-1 at the end of the second inning after Sunnyside’s Tim Martinez’s three-run triple off Gleave.
“It started off kind of shaky, but Chance settled down,” second year Cheney head coach Mike Cagle said. Cagle added that Gleave’s curveball was “working well” and has a lot more velocity than last year.
Cheney rallied back with four runs in the third, including an RBI from Gleave. Sunnyside briefly took back the lead after scoring one run in the fourth but the Blackhawks answered with two runs in the fifth including a RBI-double from Harrison King and a sacrifice fly from Riley Jones. The umpire called the game in the sixth inning due to darkness.
Cheney comes into this season after a successful 2014 where they finished 13-9 overall and 11-7 in the Great Northern League. They won five of the last seven regular season games and finished second in the district playoffs, which earned them a trip to regionals where they lost to Ellensburg. Several varsity players also competed on the Summerhawks AA American Legion baseball team.
“Guys like Connor Pratt and Anthony Hartman, I always see in the weight room,” Cagle said. “We also have a couple of sophomores who are good enough to play varsity.”
With Colville and Deer Park moving down to 1A, each GNL team will play each other four times — two single games and one doubleheader. The Blackhawks begin league play March 24 with a road trip to Pullman. Cheney eliminated the Greyhounds in the first round of the GNL playoffs last season.
“Every team is well coached,” Cagle said. “It’s going to come down to finishing in the top two or three. I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s a four-way tie for first place.”
Cagle said the team is going to work on its infield to match its “pitching performance,” as well as its short game and conditioning to better prepare for doubleheaders.
“This is a fun group to coach,” Cagle said. “From what I’ve seen so far, we can be very competitive.”
Cheney will run a short Northeast A League gauntlet this week. After the Blackhawks play Medical Lake March 17 in their first home game of the season, they travel to Freeman March 20 to play the Scotties.
Al Stover can be reached at [email protected].
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