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Walla Walla Sweets

Sweets Set New League Record in 11-0 Win

July 28, 2014 - West Coast League (WCL)
Walla Walla Sweets News Release


KLAMATH FALLS, Or. - Last week, Walla Walla Sweets outfielder Andrew Mendenhall failed to hit a single homer in the 2014 West Coast League home run derby, part of the all-star festivities at Kiger Stadium in Klamath Falls.

Fast-forward to Sunday at the same venue, and it turned out that Mendenhall had simply saved his power for when it would truly count, homering twice en route to helping the Sweets to an 11-0 shellacking of the Klamath Falls Gems.

His first blow came in the top of the 1st inning, a three-run blast preceded by a Mike Paulson leadoff double and a walk to Mikey Duarte. Klamath Falls starter Tanner Irwin (2-4) would shut out the Sweets for the next three innings, only to surrender another three-run shot to Mendenhall in the 5th, putting the Sweets up, 6-0.

"We were pretty good at the plate tonight," Sweets manager J.C. Biagi said. "It's really been the story of our offense all season. We find ways to get on base and score them, it just happened that eight of the eleven runs came via the long ball."

The Sweets' third and final homer of the game came from John Skrbec, who hit his first four-bagger of the season over the center-field fence with Kevin Morgan on base, extending the Sweets' lead to 8-0.

The three home runs set a new West Coast League record for team home runs in a season at 38, breaking the previous mark of 35, set by the Bend Elks in 2011. Additionally, the Sweets brought their runs total on the season to a franchise-record 280 tallies.

From that point, the Sweets simply relied on plate discipline and baserunning smarts, adding three runs in the 7th inning on a wild pitch and two bases-loaded walks issued by Michael Silva. That brought their total to eleven runs, their second-highest total in as many nights.

On the pitching side, Jesse Houser (5-4) was brilliant for the Sweets. He scattered just four hits over seven scoreless innings of work, and also added seven strikeouts while walking only two.

"Houser was simply the guy that was available to tonight and he threw really well," Biagi said. "That was his last appearance for us this summer and he's going out with a good win."

Alex Fisher took over for the remainder of the game, continuing his recent dominance by tossing two scoreless frames to wrap the game up for the Sweets. Although he walked two, the right-hander allowed just one hit.

"Fisher's command has really started to come around as of late," Biagi said. "He's worked his tail off all summer, there's been some bumps along the way but with his continued work he can turn himself into a really valuable arm, and I believe we're seeing some of that now."

The win placed not only placed the Sweets (21-21) back at the .500 mark, but the two-games-to-one series win also signaled a bounce back for the team, which had lost its previous two series to Kitsap and Medford.

After a day off Monday, the Sweets will return to Borleske Stadium in Walla Walla to face the Yakima Valley Pippins for a three-game series, with the first game set to begin at 7:05 PM Tuesday.

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