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WCL Walla Walla Sweets

Sweets Bats Stymied Late in 6-4 Loss

July 24, 2014 - West Coast League (WCL)
Walla Walla Sweets News Release


MEDFORD, Or. - Aiming to clinch a series victory against the Medford Rogues, the Walla Walla Sweets jumped out to an early lead Wednesday.

But the lead would not hold, and the Sweets fell to the Rogues by a score of 6-4 at Harry and David Field in Medford.

Helping the Sweets deal the initial blow in the top of the 2nd inning was Parker Osborne, who drove Cooper Hummel home from first on a double to the right-field wall. That gave the Sweets a 1-0 lead, marking the second time in a row the team had drawn first blood against the Rogues.

Lefty Spencer Hobson got the start for the Sweets, and after two scoreless innings, hit a roadblock in the 3rd. A sacrifice fly by Yuto Kata tied the score at 1-1, and Nate Etheridge, Victor Garcia and Levi Pereira hit three consecutive RBI singles to give the Rogues a 4-1 lead.

Hobson (1-1) would go on to record just one out in the 4th inning, surrendering two more runs via a sacrifice fly and an RBI double before giving way to Alex Fisher. The right-hander would pitch the rest of the way, holding the Rogues scoreless while allowing just two hits and two walks and striking out four.

Pitching on three days of rest, Fisher felt as if he was in top form. "I was feeling good," he said. "My arm felt fine; I hadn't pitched for a couple days, so I was fresh and ready to go."

When asked about his game plan in middle relief, Fisher said that he was "Basically just throwing a lot of strikes and making them (Medford) put the ball in play. That was my goal."

Entering the top of the 6th inning trailing 6-1, the Sweets began to chip away at Medford starter Christian Cox (1-2). After singles by Mark Contreras and Renae Martinez to begin the inning, Ryan Littlefield smacked a two-run double just out of the diving reach of Medford center fielder Spencer Smith, bringing the Sweets to within three runs. Osborne then tallied his second RBI of the game, knocking a ground-rule double down the left field line to score Littlefield and make the score 6-4 Medford.

Unfortunately, those three runs were all the Sweets would manage the rest of the way. Tyler Bennett, Trent Shelton and Shane Quarterley each threw one shutout inning the rest of the way for the Rogues, with the latter earning the save. The loss once again dropped the Sweets (19-19) back to a .500 clip, still three games out of first place in the East division race.

The Sweets will take on the Rogues in the deciding game of the series Thursday at 6:35 PM at Harry and David Field.

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