WCL Walla Walla Sweets

Sweets hit the road for three

Published on June 10, 2011 under West Coast League (WCL)
Walla Walla Sweets News Release


Walla Walla-- Fresh off a 4-1 start at home, the Walla Walla Sweets will face their first road test of the season when they travel to Longview, WA to take on the Cowlitz Black Bears for a three-game series at Story Field this weekend.

The Sweets and Black Bears met six times last summer, with the Black Bears winning the series 4-2. Cowlitz used a doubleheader sweep at Borleske Stadium to take two-of-three from the Sweets and then won two more at home in the beginning of August. In the four wins, Cowlitz had their way with Walla Walla. Three of the wins came by six runs or more, including a 9-1 win in the last game between the teams.

Winners of three straight, the Sweets return to league play after a sweeping a two-game weekday series against the Portland Toros. The wins, while not counting in the leauge standings, gave Walla Walla a chance to get more comfortable with each other and with the town itself. Wednesday's 7-1 win showed that. The Sweets collected 11 hits and had big games from several key players.

Zach Wentz had his best game as a Sweet, driving in four runs with a two-run double and a two-run home run. James Campbell also picked up his first multiple-hit game of the summer as the Sweets collected 13 runs over the two-game series. Wentz was 1-8 over the weekend against Corvallis but singled on Tuesday and broke out with his two-hit, four-RBI performance Wednesday. One player the Sweets won't have on the road trip will be Alex Bonczyk. The speedy outfielder from Walla Walla CC finished his 10-day contract with two more hits on Wednesday and hit .500 (8-16) in four games.

The Sweets pitching staff also continued to pitch brilliantly. Despite giving up their first earned runs of the season, the pitchers consistently gott ahead of the hitters and when they got in trouble, were able to work out of it. That includes the bullpen, which still has not allowed a run in 18.1 innings of work. The trio of Simon Anderson, Drew Fittry and Tim Culligan closed the door against the Toros with a scoreless inning each.

While the Sweets enter the series on a three-game winning streak, Cowlitz returns home after being swept by Kitsap. All three of the losses were by two runs or less and the Black Bears held leads in the fifth inning or later in each of the three contests. Offensively, Cowlitz has the league's top average (.286) but have scored just seven runs. Lewis-Clark State catch Braxton Miller has been the Black Bears top hitter, collecting six hits in his first 12 at-bats. This spring, he hit .336 with eight doubles, eight home runs and 38 RBI for the Warriors. Miller's also two of Cowlitz's five stolen bases.

Friday's series-opener will see Sean Santschi take the hill for the Sweets. The right-hander will be making his second appearance of the summer after throwing 1.2 innings of scoreless relief on Sunday against Corvallis. Culligan follows on Saturday and Anderson will get the starting nod on Sunday. Game time is 6:35 p.m. on Friday and Saturday and the series-finale starts at 5:05 p.m.

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West Coast League Stories from June 10, 2011


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