Cannons appear loaded

Over the past couple of years, the Spokane Cannons AAA Senior American Legion baseball team has been inching its way towards a lofty goal.

Winning a state title at the premiere level of ALB.

The importance of this is the Cannons are effectively the West Plains' home team, with six players from Medical Lake, five from Cheney, two out of Reardan and several others scattered about Spokane County.

Over the past two seasons the Cannons have been Spokane's representative in the state tournament. They won one game in 2021 and twice last season. "We made the semi-finals a state tournament last year," head coach Austin Sharp reminded.

"Our goal is just to keep winning another game at state," Sharp said. "We're hoping to get into that semifinal round again," with the ultimate goal to win state, which will be played in Vancouver, Wash. the end of July.

The goal will be easier to attain with a roster that has literally been there and done that. "We have a lot of veteran players that have been on both state teams that we've had," Sharp said.

From Medical Lake's 2023 Northeast A League playoff team are Kaleb Cain, Griffin Marshall, Luke Dickey, Taylor Oliver, Clint Zimmerman and Andrew Roberts.

And out of Cheney where the Blackhawks had a third-place finish in the Greater Spokane League and then four post-season games, the roster includes Eli Chabot, Jamel Chabot, Carson Jeffries Isaac Nesbitt and Clayton Wood.

Reardan players on the roster are Caden Day and Tate Nelson with Northwest Christian's Jacob Bell and Central Valley's Cameron Windhorst rounding out the current tournament lineup.

The Cannons are pitching-rich, Sharp has indicated with Dickey a first-team Northeast A League selection and Bell "A top pitcher in the 2-B League," Sharp said, adding "He's thrown mid 80s (miles-per-hour)."

The Cheney brother duo of Eli and Jamel Chabot are both capable arms, although each can play elsewhere.

As in other levels of baseball, it's pitching that ultimately contributes greatly to championships. "You obviously gotta' score but if you can keep the other guys from scoring, it makes it a whole lot easier."

The Cannons showed how their bats can operate when needed by winning the title game in district play that sent them to state, 29-12 over Pullman.

"Offensively, I think we can be pretty good," Sharp said. "Especially with a lot of these kids have been playing in our system for their third year."

The Cannons will call Holliday Field in Medical Lake their home and play about 16 dates, including several double-headers. Games generally start at 5:30 with lights allowing evening play. The team will host a pod in the annual Wood Bat tournament over the Fourth of July weekend.

Sharp noted that league play has been front-loaded this season allowing teams freedom to play in more tournaments. The Cannons will play in two notable regional events in Whitefish and Missoula. Other AAA teams include the Bandits, Gonzaga Prep, Northstars, Pullman and Shadle.

Most games are played on each team's home field with the program having gravitated away from playing at Al K. Jackson Field at Shadle Park High School in recent years.

Fans wishing to follow the Cannons can do so by signing up with the GameChanger app which provides a schedule, roster and statistics.

Paul Delaney is a retired Free Press Publishing reporter and can be reached at pauldelaney53@comcast.net.