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WCL Walla Walla Sweets

Sweets Show Resilience, But Still Drop Final Game in Extras

June 26, 2015 - West Coast League (WCL)
Walla Walla Sweets News Release


Longview, Wa- It just was not meant to be. Time and time again, the Sweets fought and clawed their way back into the game, but they ended up dropping it to Cowlitz on a walk-off single in the bottom of the eleventh inning, 8-7.

For the third time in as many games, the Bears scored in the first. This time, they put up three runs, beginning with Hank Loforte scoring when Slate Miller reached on an error on a ground ball to second. That, coupled by a throwing error by the Sweets, advanced Miller to third. He would score on a wild pitch with Mitch Bevacqua at the plate a couple of pitches later. After Bevacqua walked and advanced on a ground out, a RBI single by Casey Henderson brought him in to score as well, giving the Black Bears a 3-0 lead.

After that rough first inning, the starting pitcher for the Sweets, Cooper Powell, settled in nicely and matched his counterpart on the mound, Emilio Foden, out for out through the next five innings.

The Sweets would not find the scoreboard offensively until the eighth. Jon Hechtner started things off by reaching on a fielding error on the shortstop Henderson. After he was moved up to second by a Parker Coss single, he and Coss advanced twice on two straight wild pitches by Kelvan Pilot, making the Bears lead 3-1. With Coss on third, ball four to Kyle Nixon was another wild pitch and Coss crossed home plate. Kyle Dozier followed up Nixon's walk with a walk of his own and that set things up for Dylan Wilbert. He sent the first pitch of his at-bat screaming back up the middle for a single that scored Nixon and when the throw from center went to third and got away from Loforte, Dozier came around to score the go-ahead run. That gave the Sweets their first lead of the series at 4-3.

Cowlitz would strike back in the bottom of the eighth when Isaac Benard smashed a two-out, full-count pitch over the right field wall with Miller on at first. That gave the Black Bears the lead back at 5-4.

The Sweets refused to go down without a fight in the ninth. Hechtner led the inning off with a walk and came around to score on Kyle Dozier's second game-tying single in the ninth in as many nights. After stealing second and third, he scored on a RBI single by Juan Gamez. That gave the Sweets a 6-5 lead.

The Black Bears then tied it up again in the bottom of the ninth with an RBI single by Miller with two outs.

Nothing came across for either team until the eleventh when the Sweets put themselves on top with another go-ahead single from Juan Gamez. The Sweets' lead was then 7-6.

The Bears won it in the bottom of the eleventh when they loaded the bases with no outs. Loforte tied it with a sacrifice fly to center and Bevacqua won it with a walk off single into left-center field.

The Sweets head down south to Klamath Falls to take on the Gems in a three game series. The Black Bears head over to Bend for a series with the Elks.

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West Coast League Stories from June 26, 2015


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