Bend Elks Win Opener 6-4
June 2, 2012 - West Coast League (WCL)
Bend Elks News Release
The Bend Elks, despite being short-handed, managed to score 6 runs and overcame early sluggish defense to take down the Klamath Falls Gems on the road by a count of 6-4.
The Elks owe much of their win to the combination of JR Bunda and Trevor Hildenberger, who in the aide of Elks starter Travis Radke, combined for 6 innings of 5 hit shutout baseball, with Bunda picking up the victory, his first of the campaign.
At the plate, Darian Ramage, Tucker Esmay, and Bo Walters were key contributors to the Elks victory. Esmay went 2-5, including the RBI that tied the game at 4 in the 6th after taking a pitch from Gems reliever Chase Tokunaga back up in the middle to score Jordan Harlow. However, on the same play, the Elks were denied a chance at more when Gems center fielder Spencer Smith threw Jo Carroll out at the plate. Ramage went 2-5 on the night but scored 3 of the Elks 6 runs, and also had an impressive display of speed by swiping third base off of Tokunaga. Bo Walter delivered the big insurance RBI single in the top of the 9th to give the Elks the final 6-4 margin.
On the mound, Travis Radke from the University of Portland got the start and was plagued by the defense behind him. In the first inning, an error by Shawn O'Brien at first allowed for two runs to score, and Bo Walter had a tough time dealing with the sun in left field, allowing two balls to drop for Klamath Falls hitters. Radke ultimately went 3 innings, giving up 4 runs on 7 hits while striking out 3. Bunda relieved his Pilot teammate in the 4th inning by coming in with the bases loaded and nobody out, and got both Kyle Blackwell and Mitch Esser to strike out before getting Seth Brown to ground out to strand the bases loaded. Trevor HIldenberger then pitched a scoreless 8th and 9th to record his first save of the season.
The Elks and Gems conclude their 2 game series tomorrow in Klamath Falls, first pitch at 7:05 p.m. All Elks games can be heard by going to bendelks.com and clicking the "listen live" link on the right hand side of the page.
West Coast League Stories from June 2, 2012
- Elks Beat Klamath Falls 9-3 - Bend Elks
- Black Bears Promotional Schedule Brings - Cowlitz Black Bears
- Bend Elks Win Opener 6-4 - Bend Elks
- Black Bears Drop Season Opener 8-7 - Cowlitz Black Bears
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