Lewchuk Shines as GreyWolves Clinch Series Victory at Kitsap
July 1, 2016 - West Coast League (WCL)
Gresham GreyWolves News Release
BREMERTON, WA. - Back on June 22, Corban product Rilyn Lewchuk worked seven innings of scoreless baseball for the Gresham GreyWolves. He struck out four batters and allowed just four hits before eventually earning the win in a 7-5 victory at Cowlitz.
On Thursday, Lewchuk managed to outdo that performance in his second start of the summer.
The right-hander took a perfect game into the bottom of the seventh inning up in Bremerton against the Kitsap BlueJackets, ultimately allowing just one hit before leaving the contest. His exploits paved the way to a 7-0 shutout win for Gresham (10-13), clinching a series victory and the team's fourth win in its last five games in the process.
With Lewchuk dealing from the start, the GreyWolves offense drew first blood with a pair of runs in the fourth.
Jeffrey Mitchell, Jr. got the inning started with a leadoff walk, and he came around to score on a productive RBI groundout from five-hole hitter Ryan Smith (Southern Illinois). One batter later it was Mark Cardinalli, who tripled home Washington product Jack Johnson to extend his club's lead to 2-0. Cardinalli finished the night 4-for-4 at the plate with four RBIs.
A two-run cushion would be all Gresham needed on this night, but Justin Barchus' team struck for three more in the sixth and another couple of insurance runs in the top half of the eighth. In addition to Cardinalli, Smith ended the game with a multi-RBI day after his run-scoring double in the sixth frame.
By the time the game was complete, the GreyWolves had an easy 7-0 victory and Lewchuk (2-0) earned his second win in as many starts. Kitsap starter Jake Prizina (0-2) took the loss for the BlueJackets (6-17).
With the win, Gresham is now up to third place in the WCL's South Division. The victory also kept alive the team's hopes of clinching the division's first half playoff spot as it sits four games back of first place with four still to play.
The GreyWolves now set their sights on a sweep of Kitsap in the series finale on Friday evening. First pitch is set for 6:35 p.m. at Gene Lobe Field.
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