GreyWolves Finish First Half with Visit from Walla Walla
July 3, 2016 - West Coast League (WCL)
Gresham GreyWolves News Release
GRESHAM, Ore. - Looking to build on some momentum stemming from wins in six of its last four games, the Gresham GreyWolves return home this week for a quick three-game set against the Walla Walla Sweets. The series will span Sunday through Tuesday at Oslund Field and mark the final games of the first half of the season, at which point two playoff spots will be determined and the standings will reset for the final 27 regular season contests.
LAST TIME OUT
After splitting a pair of games at Yakima Valley, Gresham rode a trio of fantastic performances from its pitching staff to a series win in Bremerton against the Kitsap BlueJackets. It was a three-run eighth inning that did the trick in game one as the offense finally came around to give starter Spud Heideman and his bullpen some run support. The trio of runs gave the GreyWolves a 4-1 lead that they would hang on to throughout the final two frames.
Both the offense and defense were firing on all cylinders on Thursday as Gresham cruised to a 7-0 shutout victory. Starting pitcher Rilyn Lewchuk took a perfect game into the bottom of the seventh before Kitsap finally broke up the bid with a single.
The BlueJackets managed to salvage one victory in the series despite a terrific outing from starter David Wallum (eight innings pitched, just one hit allowed) on Friday. Kitsap got the job done by scratching a run across in the last of the tenth inning to eek out a 1-0 win.
PITCHING PREVIEW
Gresham's probable starters are as follows:
Game 1: LHP Gabe Benavides will get the nod in game one. The Grand Canyon product enters the weekend with 17 strikeouts in 22 innings pitched. His last start came on June 26 against Wenatchee, allowing three earned runs in what would eventually be an 11-9 win for the GreyWolves.Game 2: LHP Aaron Shoup (St. Martin's) is slated to start on Fourth of July evening for the middle game of this series. Shoup shined last Monday in Yakima, getting the win after going eight innings while conceding just two runs on five hits.Game 3: RHP Donovan Ramirez (Cal State East Bay) is Tuesday's probable starter. Ramirez enters the week with a 2-0 record and 10 strikeouts in 14 innings on the mound.ARMS RACE
The GreyWolves pitching staff has been marvelous as of late, allowing just two runs in their last three games and 12 over their past five. As noted above, they had their way time and again when facing Kitsap, conceding all of nine hits throughout the three-game series.
Individually, David Wallum (Linn Benton CC) is currently ranked fifth in the West Coast League in ERA of pitchers to make six or more appearances. His team leading 1.88 ERA leads Gresham, while Linfield left-hander Carter Buuck follows closely behind him at 2.78. Buuck's 10 appearances is only topped by two WCL pitchers at this point in the year.
HEATING UP
After an 8-3 loss on June 25 against the AppleSox, the GreyWolves had lost six of their last seven games and were sitting six games under .500 at 6-12. They have since gone 4-2 and are now just a game out of third place in the WCL's South Division.
SITUATIONAL RECORDS
Home: 6-6 Series Records: 3-4-1
Road: 4-8 Shutouts: 2-2
Streak: L1 One-Run Games: 2-4
Last 5: 3-2 vs South Division: 7-8
1st Game of Series: 4-4 vs North Division: 3-6
2nd Game of Series: 4-4 Leading after six innings: 6-2
3rd Game of Series: 2-5 Leading after eight innings: 8-2 AROUND THE WCL
The first half standings for the WCL are below. The top two teams in each division after 27 games will qualify for the playoffs before the standings reset for the second half of the season.
North DivisionWLPCTGBSTREAKLAST 10
Victoria HarbourCats 20 4 0.833 - 1W 9-1
Walla Walla Sweets 15 12 0.556 6.5 1L 6-4
Bellingham Bells 12 11 0.522 7.5 2W 5-5
Kelowna Falcons 12 12 0.500 8 1L 5-5
Wenatchee AppleSox 8 16 0.333 12 7L 2-8
South DivisionWLPCTGBSTREAKLAST 10
Corvallis Knights 13 8 0.619 - 1L 8-2
Yakima Valley Pippins 15 11 0.577 .5 1W 5-5
Cowlitz Black Bears 11 13 0.460 3.5 3W 5-5
Bend Elks 10 14 0.417 4.5 1W 5-5
Gresham GreyWolves 10 14 0.417 4.5 1L 5-5
Kitsap BlueJackets 7 18 0.288 8 1L 1-9 ABOUT THE OPPONENT
The Walla Walla Sweets enter the weekend with a record of 15-12, most recently losing two of three games earlier in the week against Yakima Valley. Walla Walla currently sits in second place in the WCL's North Division.
Offensively, the team is led by catcher Willie MacIver. The Washington product is hitting at a .346 average and has seven RBIs so far this summer.
HOW TO FOLLOWLive Audio: Join play-by-play broadcasters Evan Giddings and Fletcher Like on GreyWolves Live, the exclusive home of Gresham GreyWolves baseball all summer long.Live Stats: Head to the schedule page to find the Live Stats link for each of the three games.
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West Coast League Stories from July 3, 2016
- Sweets Take Game One in Gresham - Walla Walla Sweets
- GreyWolves Finish First Half with Visit from Walla Walla - Gresham GreyWolves
- Cowlitz Sweeps Wenatchee With Walkoff Double - Wenatchee AppleSox
- Bells Ring in Holiday Weekend with Win - Bellingham Bells
- Bells Ring in Holiday Weekend with Win - Bellingham Bells
- Velasquez Complete Game Effort Fuels Series Win - Yakima Valley Pippins
- Velasquez Too Much for Sweets in Rubber Game Loss - Walla Walla Sweets
- HarbourCats Close Series with Kelowna with 10-4 Win - Victoria HabourCats
- Knights Win - Corvallis Knights
- Velasquez Too Much for Sweets in Rubber Game Loss - Walla Walla Sweets
- HarbourCats Close Series with Kelowna with 10-4 Win - Victoria HabourCats
- Knights Win - Corvallis Knights
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